LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 



R47 Ds 



UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 



I 




r MO*'- 

DISCOU f S-E sr"*^ 0 ^ 



PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION. 



ADDRESSED 



TO DOUBTERS WHO WISH TO BELIEVE. 



BY GEORGE RIPLEY 



A true philosophy in the learned class is essential to a true religious feeling in all classes. 

Coleridge. 



JAMES M UN ROE AND COMPANY. 



1836 



IB U1*A**| 



Entered according to the Act of Congress, in the year 1836, 
By James Munroe & Co. 
the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the District of Massachusetts. 



.FREEMAN AND BOLLES, PRINTERS- 



PREFACE. 



The following discourses are not published by way of controversy. 
Their only aim is the quickening of a pure faith in spiritual truth, 
by a calm exposition of some of the principles on which it rests. 
They were written, and preached, nearly two years since, to the 
people of my pastoral charge. One of them has already been given 
to the public,* but I think it right to introduce it here as an integral 
part of the whole series. 

It is certain that any discourses, prepared in the usual course of 
professional labor, without the remotest view to publication, are 
likely to be found unworthy of a wider sphere. I am sensible that 
these discourses can claim little merit, except that of containing the 
distinct expression of ideas, which seem to me of vital importance 
to the welfare of man. They are set forth in so many ways by 
more skilful hands than mine, that I should be ashamed of the sight 
of them in print, did I not feel called upon by a strong sense of 
duty to reveal my whole mind to those who are already in possession 
of one side of my faith. I have been thought by some esteemed 
friends to have exhibited views in a recent number of one of our 
theological journalsf that are liable to many serious objections. I fear 
also that I may have unconsciously given pain to some devout and 
timid minds, who think that discussions of this nature serve only to 
unsettle the foundations of Christian faith. I have the most heartfelt 



* Discourse V. Liberal Preacher, Nov. 1835. 

i Christian Examiner for Nov. 1836. Review of Martineau's Lectures. 



iv 



PREFACE. 



sympathy with such minds. I would sooner never speak again than 
do aught which tends to cloud the blessed light of a serene and 
confiding piety. It was my purpose, in the discussion alluded to, to 
suggest a mode of considering the evidences of Christianity which 
should free it from certain difficulties under which it has been 
thought to labor. No one who has read my article understandingly 
can suppose that I intended to cast any doubt on the reality of the 
Christian miracles — or that I doubted them myself. I do not. 
Their certainty being once established, by what I deem the only 
valid proof, they are no less holy and precious to me than to others. 

The fears which are entertained by many, who are not theolo- 
gians by profession, with regard to the effect of free discussion, 
often arises from the want of an intelligent and vigorous faith. 
They dread lest the progress of inquiry should bring to light some 
hidden defect in the grounds of our religion. They are, in fact, 
doubters, though they know it not. They wish to believe. They 
cannot bear to hear a word said which implies that any cherished 
view is wrong. But this arises from a lurking suspicion that there 
is something unsound in the fabric of their faith. To such minds 
these discourses are addressed. I would frankly point out to them 
the principles on which my own faith is built ; and I cannot but hope 
that theirs will gain strength by the exposition. The interests of 
speculative science and of practical piety appear to me so intimately 
blended, that it would cause me deep sorrow to think that I had laid 
a rude hand on either. What I have recently published explains 
the negative side of my faith. I here give the positive ; and one 
should read both the statements in connexion, in order to perceive 
the complete whole in which I venture to think my views exist in 
my own mind. 

These pages do not claim to exhibit any thing new. I would 
watch for light from every quarter ; and I can hardly suppose that my 
eyes are open to any rays which have not fallen on many others 
also. Resemblances may be detected between some of the views here 
advanced and those which are maintained by far abler pens. They 
are not intentional, but are traceable to the unconscious influence 



PREFACE. 



V 



that is always exerted on a seeking mind by master spirits, which it 
looks up to and reverences. 

I ought to ask pardon for some repetitions of thought and ex- 
pression. Perhaps they are not more, however, than were to be 
expected in compositions prepared at intervals of several weeks, by 
one whose mind was possessed with a few predominant ideas. 
Besides, it was my purpose to present the same course of argument 
in two or three different applications. The attentive reader, I trust, 
will discover that " uniformity of thought and design which will 
always be found in the writings of the same person when he writes 
with simplicity and in earnest."* 

Boston, November 18, 1836. 



* Bishop Butler's Preface to his Sermons. 



CONTENTS. 



DISCOURSE I. 

ON FAITH IN THE INVISIBLE. 

" For he endured, as seeing him who is invisible." Hebrews XI. 27. 9 
DISCOURSE II. 

THE SAME SUBJECT CONTINUED. 

" We look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are 

not seen." 2 Corinthians IV. 18. 21 

DISCOURSE III. 

THE DIVINE ELEMENTS OF HUMAN NATURE. 

" According as his Divine Power has given unto us all things that per- 
tain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him that has 
called us unto glory and virtue, whereby are given unto us exceeding 
great and precious promises, that by these ye might be partakers of 
the Divine Nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the 
world." 2 Peter I. 3, 4 30 

DISCOURSE IV. 

THE SAME SUBJECT CONTINUED. 

2 Peter, I. 3, 4 . . . . 41 

DISCOURSE V. 

THE COINCIDENCE OF CHRISTIANITY WITH THE HIGHER NATURE OF MAN. 

" By this we believe that thou earnest forth from God." John XVI. 30. 50 
DISCOURSE VI. 

THE REVELATION OF GOD TO THE PURE IN HEART. 

" Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God." Matthew V. 8. 70 



s{ Wisdom is the brightness of the Everlasting Light, the unspotted mirror 
of the Power of God and the image of his Goodness. And being but one she can 
do all things ; and in all ages entering into holy souls, she maketh them 
friends of God and prophets." 



DISCOURSE I. 



ON FAITH IN THE INVISIBLE. 



HEBREWS xi. 27. 
t( FOR HE ENDURED, AS SEEING HIM WHO IS INVISIBLE." 

These words are applied by the writer of the Epistle 
to the Hebrews, to the ancient lawgiver of their na- 
tion, as descriptive of the principle of faith which formed 
a prominent element in his character. They may be 
regarded as describing with no less justice and force 
the peculiar character of every truly religious man. 
For there is nothing which more strongly marks the 
believer in religious truth, than his firm conviction of 
the reality of a vast range of subjects, which do not 
come under the cognizance of any of the senses. His 
thoughts are not confined to the contemplation of facts, 
which are presented to the notice of the outward eye. 
His mind is not limited to the gross and material 
objects, with which he is now surrounded, but passing 
over the boundaries of space and time, is conversant 
with truths, which bear the stamp of Infinity and 
Eternity. He is conscious of an inward nature, 
which is the source of more important and comprehen- 
sive ideas, than any which the external senses suggest, 
and he follows the decision of these ideas as the inspir- 
2 



10 



ON FAITH IN THE INVISIBLE. 



ing voice of God, with none the less confidence, because 
they lead him into the region of the Infinite and Invisi- 
ble. The principle of faith in the truth and reality of 
these ideas, exerts such a strong influence over his 
mind, that he acts as if their objects were now present 
with him ; he proceeds upon their certainty, with as much 
assurance, as if they had been exhibited to his bodily 
eye ; he endures as seeing him who is invisible. This, 
indeed, is so obvious and essential a trait in the charac- 
ter of the truly religious man, that it has led those who 
are blind to the destiny of our nature, to charge him 
with being a visionary, and devoted to objects that lie 
beyond the cognizance of the human mind. A religious 
man is one, it is said, who is taken up with objects that 
no one has ever seen, and which, it is further argued, 
are unworthy the attention of a rational being. We 
wish for facts, it is repeated by persons of this way of 
thinking ; we can have no knowledge beyond the evi- 
dence of our senses ; we can believe nothing, except 
what we have actually seen. The religious man, they 
contend, is in a great error, because he is not content 
with that, but wishes to obtain truth from the testimony 
of his inward nature, as well as from his outward 
senses. 

Now we admit, that remarks like these are correct, 
so far as they indicate the direction which religion gives 
to our minds, towards the ' ' things which are unseen 
and eternal ; " but they are incorrect, as we think, in 
supposing, that this direction does not lead to as clear 
and certain truth, as that which is opposed to it. The 
religious man is, indeed, conversant with invisible ob- 
jects. His thoughts expatiate in regions, which eye 
hath not seen, but which God has revealed to him, by 
his spirit. He reposes as firm faith in those ideas, 



ON FAITH IN THE INVISIBLE. 



11 



which are made known to him by his Reason ,* as in 
those facts, which are presented to his notice by the 
senses. He has no belief that human nature is so 
shackled and hemmed in, even in its present imperfect 
state, as to be confined to the objects made known by 
the eye of sense, which is given us merely for the pur- 
poses of our temporal existence, and incapable of as- 
cending to those higher spheres of thought and reality, 
to which the eternal elements of our being belong. 

But, allowing this, it by no means follows, that the 
religious man is a visionary, in any just sense of that 
word, because, in the first place, he need not neglect 
the objects, with which he is at all times surrounded, 
and which are appropriate to the province of sense, and 
in the second place, the invisible objects, with which he 
is conversant, have no less truth and reality, than those 
which are seen. 

The religious man need not see less, in the sphere of 
the senses, than any other man. There is nothing in 
his faith in the Invisible, which should blind him to any 
perceptions, within the sphere of the visible. Indeed, 
he ought to give his understanding a generous culture, 
that it may be acute and ready to decide on all objects, 
that come within its province. One part of his nature 
is not to be educated at the expense of another. One 
portion of his existence is not to be sacrificed to the 
claims of another. The present, with its duties, its 
enjoyments, and its dangers, is not to be forgotten, amid 



* The word Reason is used here and throughout these Discourses, not as 
the power of reasoning, of evolving derivative truth from admitted premi- 
ses ; but in its highest philosophical sense, as the faculty of perceiving pri- 
mitive, spiritual truth. I am justified in this use of the term by the autho- 
rity of some of the older English writers, and by a similar use of the cor- 
responding term in the philosophical literature of Europe. 



12 



ON FAITH IN THE INVISIBLE. 



the hopes and prospects of the future. It is a most 
pernicious mistake, which leads men to suppose, that 
they must give up the interests of this world in order to 
prepare for another, instead of making their preparation 
for another, to consist in a faithful discharge of all the 
claims and trusts of this. The visible is of great im- 
portance to every man on earth. Our Maker has made 
us conscious of life, in the most intimate connexion with 
it. He has surrounded us with objects, addressed to 
the senses, on a proper use of which, the religious im- 
provement of life essentially depends. It is our duty, 
as immortal beings, not to neglect the present. It is 
our duty to provide for its wants. It is our duty to 
obtain a wise acquaintance with its necessities. The 
truly religious man feels this as much as another. The 
enlightened Christian, who understands the spirit of his 
Master, and who is resolved to cultivate it, should not be 
confounded with the dreaming visionary, w T ho in the 
fancied care for his soul, cares for nothing else ; who is 
so absorbed in the contemplation of the Invisible as to 
lose sight of the important realities before his eyes ; 
whose mystic speculations on heaven spoil him for the 
duties of earth, like the ancient philosopher, who, in 
gazing at the stars, fell into a pit. This is not the 
course pursued by the truly-instructed Christian. He 
knows that every thing has its place and its importance, 
that all duties and all thoughts should preserve a just 
proportion among themselves, and if he sees those things 
which are invisible, he should give none the less heed 
to those which are visible. 

But, again, the invisible objects, with which the re- 
ligious man is conversant, possess as much reality, as 
those within the sphere of the outward senses. Do not 
call him a visionary, until you have proved that he is 



ON FAITH IN THE INVISIBLE. 



13 



dealing with visions. What if the objects of his atten- 
tion should be found to have a more substantial exist- 
ence than any thing which we now see ? Do not deem 
him a man of a fantastic mind, until you have proved 
that he is following phantoms. What if the things that 
are not seen, should turn out to be enduring realities, 
while the things that appear, are only transitory appear- 
ances 1 It may be that this is the case. We have great 
reason to hold that it is probable. Nay, we have the 
words of inspiration, declaring that it is a fact. "For 
the things which are seen are temporal, but those 
which are unseen are eternal." What then are the 
unseen realities, to which the Christian gives his faith, 
and on which he acts, with as much confidence and 
hope, as if they had passed within the boundaries of his 
earthly vision ? 

I. The Christian is conversant, I answer, with an 
invisible God. The Mighty Being, upon whom he de- 
pends and whom he worships, is infinite, and of course, 
incomprehensible. He, who sees all things, is himself 
unseen. His existence is of a spiritual nature, and of 
course, not perceptible to the eye of sense. The very 
idea of God, as that of the Primeval Spirit, — from 
whom all things proceed and by whom they are sus- 
tained, who is present in every part of his creation, to 
receive the homage of the intellect and the heart, — 
precludes the supposition, that he can be seen by the 
outward eye. That is formed for a different purpose, 
organized with different powers, and called to a differ- 
ent service. It is designed to place us in connexion 
with the various forms of matter, to reveal to our souls 
the beauty of the external universe, and to make us 
acquainted with the properties and laws of created 
Nature. If it were possible for God to be seen by the 



14 



ON FAITH IN THE INVISIBLE. 



eye, he would be no longer the Being that he is. He 
would be deprived of the attributes, which make him 
worthy of our highest adoration and praise. He would 
no longer be infinite but finite, for our finite senses 
comprehend only the latter, and ceasing to be infinite, 
he would cease to be God. The Creator of the uni- 
verse, if capable of being seen by the bodily eye, would 
be reduced to a level with nature, would become a 
material object, and of course no longer God, since 
God is a Spirit, and only by the pure in heart can he be 
spiritually discerned. But I would ask, if the fact, 
that God is invisible, and from his very nature ever 
must be so, takes aught from the reality of his presence, 
or from our convictions of his existence ? Is he any the 
less near to the heart of the good man, than if he could 
be apprehended with the eye of sense ? Do we not 
repose as firm a faith in the Being of God, as we do in 
the objects of nature, which reveal his wisdom and his 
love ? It is impossible for the enlightened Reason to 
avoid this. Though the eye cannot see God, the soul 
perceives him. It does as great a wrong and injustice 
to its own nature, when it doubts the inward convictions 
of a Maker and Governor of the world, as if it were to 
refuse evidence to the testimony of the senses, with re- 
gard to the outward universe. The decisions of Rea- 
son, which may be regarded as the very essence of the 
soul, compel us to admit the existence of God, as the 
ground of our own existence, of an Infinite Being, as 
the first cause of finite nature, of an invisible spirit, as 
the origin and support of the visible universe. Deny 
this idea, who can — he cannot wholly deny his own 
Reason, — and though he may endeavor to cast it from 
him, it will again return, its voice will make itself heard, 
announcing the presence of the Almighty, and he cannot 



ON FAITH IN THE INVISIBLE. 



15 



reject the convictions which it brings. Now, it is with 
this God, whom the eye cannot see, but whom the Rea- 
son cannot call in question, that the Christian is con- 
versant. He feels, that it is his privilege to hold com- 
munion with the Maker of the universe. He rejoices 
in the endowments of his nature, which ally him with 
God, and enable him, on this lower earth, to worship 
Him who is eternal and unseen. The thought, that God 
is at all times near to him, is one, which touches his 
heart with grateful joy; it enlarges his happiness in the 
hour of prosperity, and mitigates his suffering in the 
season of sorrow. At all times, he looks to his Father 
in Heaven, with the assurance, that no needless pang 
will be inflicted, and no needed good withheld. With 
the same confidence, with which he trusts in the per- 
manence of the universe, the stability of nature's laws, 
he trusts in the wisdom of that God, whose Providence 
is none the less certain, because its source is unseen. 
And yet such a man would, by some persons, be deemed 
a visionary. They who suppose that religion is a dream, 
because its objects lie beyond the sphere of the senses, 
would regard the Christian as a dreamer, because he 
worships a God whom he has not seen. But in so 
doing, he is in fact paying homage to the highest laws 
of his own being. He is yielding his deepest reverence 
where his Reason tells him that it is due ; he is conver- 
sant with that great reality, which, though unseen by 
mortal eye, is the ground and centre of all other reality 
in the universe. 

II. Again, the Christian cherishes communion with an 
invisible Saviour. Next to the God and Father of our 
Lord Jesus Christ, it is Jesus himself who is the dearest 
object of his gratitude, his sympathy, and his love. No 
subject makes a deeper impression on his heart than the 



16 



ON FAITH IN THE INVISIBLE. 



character of his blessed Lord. No remembrance touches 
more powerfully the springs of his best feelings than the 
remembrance of the love of Christ, who laid down his 
life, that we might live. He sees in him the manifesta- 
tion of the Father's glory, the express image of the Di- 
vine Perfections. All that we most love and adore in 
God, — his holiness, his justice, his benevolence and his 
truth, — is displayed in the person of his Son, and by the 
spiritual contemplation of that, we obtain the best idea 
of the Father himself. But here is nothing presented to 
the senses. None of us ever saw the Saviour of men. 
We did not know him after the flesh. No material rep- 
resentation could convey to our souls a just impression 
of his character, Indeed, we obtain so much clearer a 
perception of him, by bringing his actions in review be- 
fore the mental eye, that there can scarcely be a material 
representation, intended to represent the features of his 
character, which does not fall far short of the concep- 
tions which we had previously formed. Every thing 
here is addressed to the soul. It is the inward eye, 
that beholds the glory of Christ. It is to the principle 
of faith, that his spiritual presence is revealed, — and 
who can say that it does not make him conversant with 
a noble object? Who can deny that the recollection of 
such a being as our Saviour was, calls forth our highest 
faculties, and introduces us into a region of thought, in 
which it well befits a man to expatiate? Is the Chris- 
tian the sport of a vain and idle fancy, when he com- 
munes with an unseen Saviour? Is he giving way to a 
visionary delusion, when he calls up the remembrance 
of him who became a man of sorrows, that we might be 
partakers of joy; who tasted the bitter cup of death, that 
we might drink the waters of life, and opened to us the 
gates of Heaven, by his own agony on the cross? Is 



ON FAITH IN THE INVISIBLE. 



17 



this communion with an invisible Saviour, the delusion 
of an enthusiast? All the better feelings of our nature 
declare that it is not. All the homage that is paid at 
the tomb of departed worth, all the gratitude that is 
lavished on the benefactors of our race, all the rever- 
ence that is accorded to glorious specimens of moral per- 
fection declare that it is not. 

III. Again, the Christian is conversant with the invis- 
ible powers of his own nature. He is in a state of con- 
stant communion with feelings and faculties, that he has 
never seen. He takes counsel of Reason. He inquires 
at the oracles of Conscience. He communes with his own 
heart. He is conscious that he is the possessor of a liv- 
ing soul — of a soul which is to live for ever. He has no 
more doubt of the existence of his soul, than he has of 
the existence of his senses. He believes in his Reason 
as much, nay more, than he does in his eyes. But it is 
all invisible. Nobody has ever seen the inward nature 
of man. The researches of the anatomist stop short of 
it. It cannot be laid open with the knife. It cannot 
be exhibited for inspection. It is the object of no one 
of the senses. It is as invisible as the Creator himself. 
But does any one doubt, on that account, the reality of 
his inward nature? Can the Christian be charged with 
folly or with prejudice, because it is his aim to submit 
the senses to the soul? Can we call in question the 
existence of the Reason, of the Conscience, of the feeling 
of moral obligation, because we have never seen them? 
If we are not aware of their existence, it is because we 
have never felt their power ; and if we have never felt 
their power, what does it prove with regard to our- 
selves? If the Christian is guilty of folly, in paying 
reverence to unseen powers, give me his folly rather 
than the wisdom of one, who by his own confession, is 
3 



18 



ON FAITH IN THE INVISIBLE. 



a stranger to Reason, to Conscience, to a sense of obli- 
gation, to the noblest attributes and faculties of man. 

IV. Once more, the Christian is conversant with an in- 
visible world. He believes in the existence of a state of 
being which he has not seen, with as much confidence 
as in the reality of the world which he now occupies. He 
has obtained too deep and correct an insight into his own 
nature, to admit the idea for a moment, that the £< be- 
all and end-all " of man is with the present state. He 
is conscious of undeveloped powers, which demand an 
Eternity for their expansion, and he feels sure that God 
will grant the opportunity, where he has given the ca- 
pacity. The future world then rises before him, as his 
final home. His thoughts often dwell upon it, with the 
deepest interest. There he hopes for brighter manifest- 
ations of God. There he expects more intimate com- 
munion with his Saviour. There he trusts to enjoy the 
acquaintance of kindred minds, who have lived in past 
ages and distant lands, and who in Heaven have become 
one through Christ Jesus. There are the prophets of 
the elder world, through whose noble spirits God spake 
to his people. There are the venerable sages, whose lips 
dropped wisdom and whose hearts were devoted to truth. 
There are the white-robed throng of the apostles, with 
palms in their hands and crowns of glory on their heads. 
There are the glorious host of the martyrs, who went 
up by blood and fire, to their Father's throne. These 
all have obtained the promises. They have crossed the 
dark river. They have tasted the bitter waters of death. 
They are before the throne of God, and the Lamb's 
name is written on their foreheads. Shall not the 
Christian think of them? Who would prevent him? 
Who would tear from him those holy hopes, which are 
the charm and solace of his present existence? Who 



ON FAITH IN THE INVISIBLE. 



19 



would deny him the privilege of indulging in those an- 
ticipations, which are demanded by his feelings and sanc- 
tioned by his Reason, because they are not laid open to 
the eye of sense? He cannot tell, indeed, by any 
cold deductions of the understanding, how the dead are 
raised up, or with what body they do come, but he be- 
lieves that the same God, who raised up Christ, will 
also raise him from this mortal life on earth, to a higher 
life in Heaven. The nature of that life he cannot fully 
describe. Its pursuits, he does not know. Its connex- 
ion with space and with time, he does not comprehend. 
But he feels his intimate connexion with it. He knows, 
that compared with it, this life is but a dream — a vapor. 
He is sure, that it cannot be far off. Soon will he enter 
upon its amazing scenes. Soon will its mysteries be 
disclosed to his waiting faith, and a higher consciousness 
of existence commence. He does not see that world, 
but he expects to meet there beings like himself. How 
many have gone before him ! How many will be there 
to receive him ! Angel voices call him from on high. 
Angel-hands are stretched forth for his aid. The dead, 
who have gone, are living still. The angel-friends who 
have vanished from earth are angel-spirits in the pres- 
ence of God. They speak to his heart, when it is open 
to the voices of Eternity. Their spiritual presence is 
revealed, as the shadows of earth disappear and the 
glories of Heaven draw nigh. And will you say, that 
the Christian should not often commune with invisible 
realities like these? Will you tell him that because 
the prospects of Eternity are shut out from his sight, 
they should also be shut out from his heart? Speak, 
thou faithful disciple of Christ! Speak, ye, who look up 
for rest in Heaven ! Speak, pilgrim of earth, as ye be- 
hold in the distance the shining walls of the city of God ! 



20 



ON FAITH IN THE INVISIBLE. 



Speak, heart of man, that yearns, with desires that can- 
not be expressed, for a closer union with the Infinite and 
the Eternal ! Speak ! and ye will say, that there is 
no worthy object for the Everlasting Soul, but the things 
that are unseen — no source of illimitable joy, but the 
Infinite Presence of God ! 



DISCOURSE II. 



THE SAME SUBJECT CONTINUED. 



2 CORINTHIANS IV. 18. 

* l WE LOOK NOT AT THE THINGS WHICH ARE SEEN, BUT AT THE THINGS WHICH 
ARE NOT SEEN.' 5 

It is a peculiar trait in the character of the Christian, 
as we have seen, on a former occasion, that he is con- 
versant with objects which are invisible to the eye of 
sense. He cultivates the habit of communion with an 
unseen God, an unseen Saviour, the unseen powers of 
his own soul, and the unseen future, to which he is des- 
tined. In my discourse, this morning, I wish to continue 
the train of thought, in which we have recently been 
engaged, and to urge upon your minds the importance 
of attention to the invisible objects, with which we are 
connected. 

I. In pursuing this subject, I would first remark, that 
the things which are unseen possess the only indepen- 
dent reality. This assertion, I know, is contrary to 
our usual modes of conception. The objects of sense 
make so early and so strong an impression upon our 
minds, that we soon learn to regard them as more real 
than any others. Our first connexion is with the ma- 
terial universe. We are awakened, in the first instance, 
to a consciousness of our own being, through the influence 
which it exerts upon our frames. We learn to know our- 



22 



THE SAME SUBJECT CONTINUED. 



selves, by having previously learned the changes which 
we experience from the agency of outward objects. The 
universe, with its varied beauty and splendor, is spread 
forth in our presence, it addresses every faculty and ex- 
cites every feeling, we behold its vast and complicated 
changes with reverence and awe, and it is not surprising 
that we should regard it as clothed with original and in- 
dependent reality. But, in truth, the things which are 
seen were not made of things which do appear. The 
material universe is the expression of an Invisible Wis- 
dom and Power. It has its origin in the will of the In- 
finite, who has made it what it is, endowed it with all 
its properties, impressed it with all its tendencies, as- 
signed it all its laws, and by whose energy it is ever 
constantly sustained. The creation in itself, without 
reference to the Almighty Spirit from which it sprung, 
is formless and without order — a mass of chaotic ob- 
jects, of whose uses we are ignorant, and whose destiny 
we cannot imagine. It is only when its visible glory 
leads our minds to its unseen Author, and we regard it 
as a manifestation of Divine Wisdom, that we can truly 
comprehend its character and designs. To the eye of 
sense, what does the external creation present? Much 
less than we are generally apt to suppose. Consider 
every thing which we learn from it, merely through our 
bodily organization, you will be surprised to find how 
small an amount can be summed up. Deduct all the 
pleasure it gives us, through the medium of our higher 
nature, all the associations which it suggests to thought 
and feeling, all the indications of a spiritual presence 
and glory, which its significant symbols reveal to our 
souls, and you will find that what remains, is of far less 
interest and importance than you would at first have im- 
agined. The outward creation, indeed, exhibits an 



THE SAME SUBJECT CONTINUED. 23 

ever-changing variety of forms, of colors, and of mo- 
tions, which excite the perception of beauty and pro- 
duce intense delight in the mind of the beholder. But 
what is it that the external eye perceives, when it con- 
templates this? Merely the different arrangements of 
matter, the various degrees and directions in which the 
light falls on the object admired, and the change of po- 
sition with regard to space. This is all that is seen. 
The rest is felt. The forms are addressed to the eye, 
but the perception of beauty is in the soul. And the 
highest degree of this is perceived, when the outward 
creation suggests the wisdom of the Creator. Without 
that, it is comparatively blank and cold and lifeless. It 
is his existence which furnishes the ground for the ex- 
istence of that, and connected with Him, as the Primal 
Fountain of Being, it derives all the reality which it pos- 
sesses, from his Sovereign Will. How unwise, then, to 
confine our attention merely to the outward form, and 
to forget the inward spirit, which it represents ! How 
unworthy of the character of a man, to be so occupied 
with the mere outside, the dry husk and shell of matter, 
as to lose sight of the Infinite and Divine Energy, from 
which it draws the reality of its being. 

The things that are seen, moreover, are dependent, 
in a great measure, upon our own souls. We have 
another instance, here, of the relation between the visi- 
ble and the invisible, and the subjection of the former to 
the latter. It is often said, I am aware, that the soul is 
dependent for its character and growth, on the external 
forms of matter, with which it is connected, and that it 
is greatly influenced by them is a fact, which no observer 
of human nature can deny ; but it is no less true, that the 
outward universe is to a great degree, dependent upon our 
souls for its character and influence, and that by changes 



24 



THE SAME SUBJECT CONTINUED. 



in our inward condition, a corresponding change is pro- 
duced in the objects with which we are surrounded. It 
is from the cast and disposition of our souls, that external 
nature derives its hues and conformation. Place two 
men of different character, in the same outward scenes, 
how different is the effect which takes place. To one, 
perhaps, whose heart is tuned to the praises of his Ma- 
ker, every thing suggests the presence of Divine Wisdom 
and Love. The voice of God is heard in the rushings of 
the wind and the whisperings of the breeze, in the roar 
of the thunder and the fall of the rain ; his hand is visible 
in the glories of the midnight sky and the splendor of 
the opening morn, in the fierce majesty and might of 
winter, and in the greenness and beauty of the return- 
ing spring ; every object is an image of the goodness of 
God ; every sound, a call for his adoration ; every spot 
a hallowed temple for his praise. But to the heart of 
the other, no such feelings are suggested. . He looks 
coldly on, amid the fair scene of things, in which he is 
placed. No emotions of admiration or of gratitude pen- 
etrate his soul. No sound comes to him from the depths 
of nature, answering to an accordant sound within the 
depths of his own heart. He views all that is before 
him, with a spirit of calculation or a spirit of indiffer- 
ence. Yet he sees precisely the same objects with his 
companion. The same outward universe is unfolded to 
his view. The same material sights meet his eye ; the 
same material sounds touch his ear ; the same forms and 
colors and motions, are addressed to his senses. But is 
it in fact, the same world that is beheld in the two 
cases? In one, it is a living image, speaking forth the 
glory of God ; in the other, a mute and dead mass of 
material forms. Whence is this difference? Whence, 
but from the souls of the two spectators? It is upon the 



THE SAME SUBJECT CONTINUED. 



25 



inward condition that the outward reality depends. The 
visible universe is to us what our invisible souls choose 
to make it. Here, then, we have a reason for looking at 
the things which are unseen — for making them the chief 
object of our attention. In so doing, we become conver- 
sant with the primal source of reality. We ascend to the 
original fountain of Being, from which the streams that 
flow forth receive their properties and their direction. 

II. Again, I would remark, that the things which 
are unseen possess the only permanent existence. The 
stupendous masses of matter upon which we repose our 
eye, appear, indeed, to be imperishable. The solid 
mountains are girt with strength which seems to defy 
the ravages of time. The boundless ocean is spread 
forth, an emblem of endless duration, as well as of un- 
limited extent. The shining hosts of Heaven arise in 
their calm beauty, as if they were everlasting. Yet 
we know that compared with the Eternity of their 
Maker, they are but of yesterday, and that they might 
be tomorrow blotted out of existence, while God would 
remain the same and of his years there would be no 
end. We can even see the marks of change and of 
progress, of alternate renovation and decay, on almost 
every part of the material universe. The ancient 
mountains fall and come to nought. The volcanic fires 
that have raged for many centuries are quenched. The 
vast plains which were once the bed of mighty waters 
now afford a home to peaceful flocks. And what assu- 
rance have w T e, that the same Omnipotent Will, which 
at first called the universe into being, subject to the 
conditions of time and space, may not at length decree 
its entire destruction ? Who can say that the images 
of ancient prophecy will not receive a literal fulfil- 
ment, when the sun shall be turned into darkness, the 
4 



26 



THE SAME SUBJECT CONTINUED. 



stars fall from their places, the heavens be gathered to- 
gether as a scroll, and the elements melt with fervent 
heat ? There is no intrinsic permanence in the out- 
ward world to prevent such a catastrophe. It is com- 
posed of frail materials. It exists in temporary and 
changeable forms. It is held together by the sovereign 
will of God. And were this great globe itself, with all 
that it inherits, dissolved, the Invisible and Everlasting 
Spirit would remain unchanged. God would still exist, 
in the mysterious perfections of his nature, from Ever- 
lasting and to Everlasting. 

The human soul, moreover, — that vital and unseen 
Intelligence, which animates our bodies, manifests itself 
in our actions, and constitutes our true and proper 
self, continues the same, although the outward uni- 
verse passes away. The power, which could quench 
the stars, does not touch the soul of man. Its exist- 
ence is not dependent on the decaying forms of matter, 
but it partakes a higher life from Him, who is the source 
and centre of all being and consciousness. The hour of 
death does in fact annihilate the material world to the 
human soul. It dissolves the connexion by which it is 
bound to its objects. It destroys the instruments by 
which all communication with it is held. It closes up 
the avenues through which every notice of its properties 
was conveyed to the mind. It spreads a veil over the 
objects of sense, so that it is in fact the same as if they 
no longer existed. When the eye is closed in that last 
sleep, it is as if the light of the sun were put out. When 
the ear is sealed in the silence of death, it is as if all 
the music of nature were suddenly hushed. To the ex- 
ternal senses the outward world exists no longer. The 
visible heavens and earth have passed away. But the 
soul survives. Its life is safe in the hand of God. It 



THE SAME SUBJECT CONTINUED. 



27 



does not die with the organs of sense, that were but its 
servants. It has only changed its outward manifesta- 
tion, to become the recipient of a new and nobler life. 
It has left these heavens and this earth, which our eyes 
behold, to be a denizen of a brighter Heaven, a more 
glorious abode. 

III. I observe, again, that it is upon unseen things, 
that the happiness of man essentially depends. Out- 
ward objects can do nothing for our happiness, inde- 
pendent of our inward state. It is the unseen condi- 
tion of our souls that makes us what we are ; and upon 
this depends our highest welfare and joy. Let a man 
be placed amid the brightest splendors of the material 
universe. Let all the glories of Heaven and of earth be 
unfolded before his eye. Unless he has an inward 
sense of their beauty, they cannot give him any happi- 
ness. Unless his soul is purified to enjoy their pres- 
ence, they are like pictures to the blind and music to 
the deaf. Suppose that he is ignorant, uninstructed, 
the victim of superstition and slavish terror. Suppose 
that he has no just sense of the love of God, and cher- 
ishes an abject fear of his wrath. All the majesty of 
the outward universe will then be inadequate to im- 
press his mind with calm and peaceful reverence. The 
treasures of Nature are not sufficient to impart a con- 
fiding trust to his soul. He will hear the wrathful 
voice of an incensed Deity in every sound. He will 
see his frowning face in every changeful aspect of the 
sky. He will quail and pant for dread at every new 
phenomenon which he beholds. Can such a man be 
happy ? It is impossible. Can he be otherwise than 
miserable ? Never. And whence does his misery 
arise ? From within, from himself. From a diseased 
state of the unseen soul. Make that right, you dry up 



28 



THE SAME SUBJECT CONTINUED. 



the fountain of wretchedness that he bears within him. 
Inspire his soul with a filial love of God, and you make 
the world a Paradise at once. Let all outward circum- 
stances remain the same, and correct the things that 
are unseen, you place his happiness on a secure foun- 
dation. 

And again, suppose that a man is blessed with a 
great degree of outward prosperity. His lot is cast in 
pleasant places, and he has a goodly heritage. He 
enjoys a situation in life that is adapted to gratify all 
his tastes and desires. His home is crowned with 
every thing that heart can wish. The course of events 
glides smoothly on, and every one who sees him re- 
marks on his good fortune. But is this outward pros- 
perity capable of imparting happiness to his soul ? Can 
it satisfy the deep wants which his nature feels ? Per- 
haps if you could lift the veil from his heart, you would 
find him one of the most miserable of men. If he 
trusts in the external prosperity which he enjoys, it is 
certain that you would find him without any firm hold 
on happiness. One evil passion within his bosom is 
sufficient to poison all his sources of enjoyment. He 
must have attained to an inward peace, peace with 
God, peace with his own conscience, peace with his 
fellow-men, or he cannot partake of the springs of joy 
that gush up before his own door. 

IV. I would add one more consideration. The things 
which are unseen are more within our power than those 
which are seen. Man, with all his boasted improve- 
ments, has little control over the external universe. The 
world around us goes on, independent of our agency, 
without consulting our will. We cannot increase or 
diminish, to the amount of a single grain of sand, the 
quantity of matter of which the earth is composed. We 



THE SAME SUBJECT CONTINUED. 



29 



cannot alter the time of the rising or the setting of a 
single star ; the glorious constellations of Heaven roll 
over our heads, as they are impelled in their majestic 
silence by an unseen hand ; and all that man can do is to 
gaze in admiration or fall prostrate in reverence and joy. 
This is not his province. But his kingdom is within. His 
authority is over the hidden world of his own spirit. 
There he can exercise a rightful and commanding sway. 
Lord of himself, of the unseen powers of his own being, 
he can reign there with a more than kingly sovereignty. 
He can control his inward passions, assuage the tempest 
of his feelings, still the storms of wild desire. The ever- 
lasting lights of the soul are called forth at his bidding, 
they are dimmed and sullied by his neglect, and upon his 
own will it depends whether they shine on in their ra- 
diant courses or fade in disastrous eclipse. Here is the 
consecrated sphere, in which his action may be effectual, 
which he may fill with brightness and purity and joy, or 
with darkness, pollution and despair. And is it not a 
greater privilege to be able to move the soul than it would 
be to reach the sun? Is it not a more blessed destiny to 
be endowed with power to clothe our spiritual being 
with light, than it would be to act upon the pale orbs 
of the starry sky? Is it not wise in us to give the 
strength of our souls to those things which are unseen 
and eternal, that we may thus consecrate those which 
are seen and temporal? 



DISCOURSE III. 



THE DIVINE ELEMENTS OF HUMAN NATURE. 



2 PETER I. 3, 4. 

"according as his divine power has given unto us all things that 
pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him 
that has called us unto glory and virtue, whereby are given un- 
to us exceeding great and precious promises, that by these ye might 
be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption 
that is in the world." 

In these words we have a brief but comprehen- 
sive description of the purpose and the effects of the 
Christian religion. The blessings which it imparts are 
referred to the power of God, as their original cause, 
and its ultimate design is declared to be the progress 
of men in glory and virtue, so that they should be- 
come partakers even of the Divine Nature. You will 
observe, from the declarations made by the Apostle, 
the profound views which he cherished of the charac- 
ter and objects of the Christian faith. You will per- 
ceive how clearly and firmly he regarded it as the 
great means, in the divine appointment, of renovat- 
ing the nature of man, and preserving him from the cor- 
ruption to which he was exposed by his condition in the 
world. According to his opinion, Christianity was no 
superficial system, intended merely to regulate the ex- 
ternal conduct, and preserve a decent regard to social 



THE DIVINE ELEMENTS OF HUMAN NATURE. 31 

morality among men. It had a far higher aim, a 
wider purpose. It was designed to take hold of the 
deepest and strongest principles of human nature, and 
to bendr them all to the practice of goodness and the ser- 
vice of God — to fill the heart with an immortal hope, 
and to purify it as a holy Temple for the Spirit of God. 
Neither did the Apostle regard Christianity as a system 
of abstract speculative doctrines. He had no idea of 
resorting to it, for an explanation of theological mys- 
teries which the mind of man cannot comprehend, and 
which exert no influence on the feelings and the life. 
Peter was no sectarian. He was no framer of systems. 
He had no love for the discussion of nice and difficult 
points. It was far from his view to make Christianity 
a battle-field, or the cross of Christ a standard of con- 
tention. He regarded it almost entirely in its profound 
practical bearings, as a system adapted to produce the 
most magnificent changes in the heart of man and the 
fortunes of the world. He saw in it a light, which, once 
admitted into the human soul, would purify it from 
darkness and sin, make it conscious of its immortal des- 
tiny, and call forth its divine nature into constant and 
active exercise. How freely does he allude to the ca- 
pabilities of man, and the power of Christianity to give 
them their utmost development and energy — how joy- 
fully does he speak of the state of purity and communion 
with God, into which the promises of the Gospel bring 
the believer in Christianity — of the progress which he 
is to make in glory and virtue, even to a resemblance 
of the Divine Perfection, an approach to the nature of 
the Infinite Mind. This moral and spiritual state is 
what Peter speaks of as a plain matter of fact. He holds 
it up with the strength and simplicity of deep convic- 
tion, as the object to which the Christian should aspire 



32 THE DIVINE ELEMENTS OF HUMAN NATURE. 

and which the power of his religion will enable him to 
attain. Without the slightest approach to enthusiasm 
or extravagance in his language, he speaks with great 
clearness of the destiny of Christians to become par- 
takers of the Divine Nature. 

But, when we first give our attention to declara- 
tions of this kind, we are apt to imagine that they 
set forth something beyond the reach of human ability. 
We look on men as they exist around us, and it is 
difficult to form just and high conceptions of their 
nature and destiny. We hear of the power of religion 
to make them partakers of the divine nature ; and we 
at once think of the contrast which is presented by 
their actual condition. Can it be possible, it is asked, 
that men with the infirmities and the passions, the 
exposures and the weaknesses, the temptations and the 
sins, to which all are liable, can ever attain the stan- 
dard of Christianity, and become partakers of the divine 
nature ? You see one, it is said, doomed to a life of 
constant and wearisome labor. Every hour his hands 
must be employed in procuring his daily bread. The 
fatigues of his body impede the free action of his mind, 
and worn down by incessant toil, he scarcely thinks of 
any thing beyond the narrow sphere of his labors. In 
some instances, the constant recurrence of the same 
pursuits, the unceasing round of corporeal exertion, 
benumbs the faculties, and seems to make the man like 
one of the machines or instruments with which he is 
employed. You ask, if Christianity can elevate such 
a man to the possession of the divine nature, with a 
tone, which implies that you suppose the thing is 
impossible. Again, you see another sunk in the depths 
of poverty. He has hardly a shelter for his head, or 
rags to protect him from the violence of the storm. 



THE DIVINE ELEMENTS OF HUMAN NATURE. 33 

He has become the victim of abject wretchedness, and 
degraded in mind and body ; the spark of reason and 
feeling, which is given to ever} r man at his creation, 
appears to be quenched. Can it again be kindled up, 
you are disposed to inquire, and the soul which you 
have seen cast down, raised to a fellowship with God ? 
Or again, your attention may be directed to a gross 
instance of ignorance and vice. You behold a man, 
uninstructed, unenlightened, without feeling, without 
principle, dead to the deepest thoughts and best emo- 
tions of our nature, and indulging in the worst passions, 
without shame and without remorse, and here, too, 
you are tempted to ask, Can the divine Image ever be 
made visible on such a corrupted object ? Can the 
God-like ever be impressed, in deep and lasting char- 
acters, on a soul so polluted and lost ? I am aware 
of the difficulty implied in questions like these. I 
cannot wonder, that when we compare the promises of 
Christianity with the condition of man, our first emo- 
tion should be one of incredulity and almost of despair. 
That man — man, degraded, wretched and guilty as he 
often is — man the subject of such fierce passions and 
such fearful sins — should be capable of a participation 
in the divine nature, seems to us a boon of such sur- 
passing magnitude as to exceed the power of our 
comprehension. But the objections that arise at first 
sight are the result of a superficial observation. We 
must enlarge the sphere of our vision. We must look 
below the surface. We must consider man as he is, 
in his strength as well as his weakness, in his capaci- 
ties as well as his infirmities, in his destiny as well as 
his condition, in that part of his nature which is of 
Heaven, heavenly, as well as that which is of the Earth, 
earthy. This broad and comprehensive view of man 
5 



34 THE DIVINE ELEMENTS OF HUMAN NATURE. 

will reveal to us a higher order of powers, which elevate 
him above what is exclusive and peculiar to him as 
man, and connect him with God. It will show us the 
truth and importance of the Apostle's declaration — that 
we may become partakers of the divine nature, and 
lead us to aspire after that state as the great object of 
our existence. 

When it is said, that man may become a partaker 
of the divine nature, let us be careful to understand 
what is meant by the assertion. We shall otherwise 
fall into the region of extravagance and mysticism. To 
be a partaker of the divine nature, is to possess, in 
some degree, the qualities which we attribute to the 
Supreme Divinity. Now it is plain that man possesses 
many qualities of an opposite character. With regard 
to this fact, there can be no doubt, and there is no 
controversy. These qualities force themselves upon 
the attention of every one. They are exhibited in 
the daily experience of life, and we cannot escape 
noticing them. But we must not look merely at one 
side of man's nature. We must not direct our atten- 
tion so fixedly to certain qualities which it displays, 
as to lose sight of others, which are less prominent, 
of a contrary character. If man can become a par- 
taker of the divine nature, there must be a basis for 
such participation in his own nature. If he can acquire 
any of the qualities which we attribute to the Supreme 
Divinity, there must be an original capacity for their 
cultivation. There must be a foundation to work upon, 
or the building cannot be erected. Let us inquire 
further then, into this subject. Let us see if there is 
any thing in the nature of man, which may enable 
him to become a partaker of the divine nature — any 
capacities, which may be the germ of qualities in his 



THE DIVINE ELEMENTS OF HUMAN NATURE. 35 



character, similar to those which we reverence in the 
character of God. 

I. When we examine the nature which we possess, 
we perceive at once, that it has a power of a remark- 
able character, which seems to bear some resemblance 
to one of the divine attributes — the power of perceiving 
truth. Man has a faculty, which enables him not 
merely to count, to weigh, and to measure, to estimate 
probabilities and to draw inferences from visible facts, 
but to ascertain and determine certain principles of 
original truth. He sees not merely that one thing is, 
and another thing is not, that one object of sense is 
present and another is absent, but that one proposition, 
relating to abstract and invisible subjects of thought, 
is true, and another is false. An assertion may be 
made, concerning an object which he has never seen 
and never can see, — which cannot be submitted to the 
cognizance of the senses, and yet he has the power, 
which enables him to say, with absolute certainty, 
whether it is true or false. It is this power, by which 
all science is created. It was the possession of this 
power in a remarkable degree, which enabled the 
solitary thinkers, in the retirement of their closets, 
whose labors have shed the greatest light on science, 
to make those discoveries, by which the arts of life 
have been promoted, and aid given in the pursuit of 
the great interests of society. This power is Reason. 
It gives us the immediate perception of Truth. It is 
the ultimate standard, in judging on all subjects of 
human inquiry. Whatever appears to be true to our 
Reason, we believe to be true ; whatever appears false 
to that, we believe to be false. Existing in different 
degrees, in different men, it is found in some degree in 
all. There are certain points on which the judgment 



36 THE DIVINE ELEMENTS OF HUMAN NATURE. 

of all men is alike — certain propositions, which every 
one would pronounce true, certain others which all 
would declare false. We are compelled to this by the 
nature of our Reason, ft is not subject to the control 
of our will. We cannot say, that we choose to have 
two and two appear equal to five, and therefore they 
are so in the sight of Reason ; but this faculty exer- 
cises its own judgment, announces its own decisions, 
enforces its own authority, from which there is no ap- 
peal. Does not this show, that Reason though within 
us is not created by us ; though belonging to human 
nature, originates in a higher nature ; though shining 
in the mind of man, is an emanation from the mind of 
God ? Is not the faculty of reason, similar to the 
wisdom of God ? As he has the power of perceiving 
the pure and absolute truth on all subjects, has he not 
endowed man with the similar power of perceiving 
truth, on a limited number of subjects ? In this 
respect, then, I believe that the nature of man has 
powers by which he may become a partaker of the 
divine nature — may exhibit qualities of a similar 
character to those which we reverence in God. 

II. Again, man has the faculty of recognising moral 
distinctions. Of two courses of conduct that are pre- 
sented to his choice, he is able to say that one is Right 
and that the other is Wrong. He perceives not merely 
what would be for his advantage, his interest, what 
will gratify his passions, or promote the happiness of 
society, but he sees that certain actions, though they 
might gratify his selfish inclinations, are forbidden by 
the law of Duty, and he feels an inward obligation 
to obey that law. Man does not obtain this knowledge 
through the medium of any of his senses. It is not 
the result of that part of his nature which calculates 



THE DIVINE ELEMENTS OF HUMAN NATURE. 37 

and compares. It is not subject to his own will. A 
man may be tempted to do a wrong action, and may- 
yield to the temptation ; — he may turn away his mind 
from the contemplation of its character, and thus be 
blind to its real nature ; — but, as long as he gives his 
attention to an action, not blinded by passion, nor 
warped by prejudice, but in the pure light of con- 
science, he cannot make the unjust appear to be just, 
the wrong appear to be right. A voice within speaks, 
which he cannot but hear, and tells him the character 
of the action which he is about to perform. It is 
common to call this voice within us, this conscience 
which speaks out its clear behests, whether we will 
hear or whether we will forbear, the voice of God — 
and is there not a truth of deep significance in the 
expression ? Is not conscience in the human soul, a 
quality similar to that attribute of God, which makes 
him the righteous judge of all the earth 1 Is not 
conscience, the voice of God, the word of Him who 
is of purer eyes than to behold iniquity, and who 
separates between the evil and the good ? As God 
discerns with his all-seeing eye, the real character 
of every action, so has he imparted to the human soul, 
a portion of his spirit, which gives it a similar power, 
and arms the decisions of conscience with a divine 
authority. Here then, is an element, by the cultiva- 
tion of which man may become a partaker of the 
divine nature. Let him reverence his conscience, and 
it will acquire a power similar to that justice, which 
we adore in God. Let him listen to the faintest 
whispers of that voice, which speaks in his moral 
nature, and he will preserve, in its original brightness, 
the image of his Maker, which has been impressed 
upon his soul. 



38 THE DIVINE ELEMENTS OF HUMAN NATURE. 

III. Again, man has the power of disinterested Love. 
I do not say, how frequently it is exercised. That is not 
requisite for the argument I have in view. It is of no 
consequence, how many instances to the contrary may 
be adduced from the experience of life, to show that its 
actual existence is rare. They only prove that the ori- 
ginal element, upon which it is founded, has failed of its 
proper culture ; not, that it is wanting in human nature. 
It is enough to know that the ground of disinterested, 
self-sacrificing love is placed within the heart of man, 
and we have at once an element, by which he may be 
made a partaker of the divine nature. And that this 
germ does exist in the human soul, who can deny ? 
Has it not been displayed in examples of benevolence, 
which had no selfish object in view, but which went 
steadily forward to the accomplishment of their purpose, 
in the midst of peril and sacrifice ? It was displayed in 
the example of Jesus Christ, who so loved the world, — 
who was so interested in the spiritual welfare of man- 
kind, — so intent on promoting the highest happiness of 
the human race, that he forgot himself, forsook every 
earthly interest, suffered every outward deprivation, 
and at last sacrificed his life, in the cause which was 
dearer to him than any personal advantage which 
could be desired. It was displayed in the example of 
his apostles, whose hearts burned within them for the 
promotion of truth, and who laid down every earthly 
blessing at the foot of the cross. It is felt by the philan- 
thropist, who is ready, at the expense of his tears and 
his blood, to alleviate the miseries of the human race. 
It is felt by the friend, who would willingly renounce his 
own life in behalf of his friend. It is felt by the parent, 
who knows that the happiness of his children are dearer 
to him than his own, and who would give up every thing 



THE DIVINE ELEMENTS OF HUMAN NATURE. 39 

himself to confer it upon them. It is felt by every good 
man, who has so devoted himself to a righteous cause, 
that he regards his own interests as but chaff and dust, 
compared with the promotion of the cause which he 
has at heart. And this love is the very essence of the 
Divine character. God is Love, and whoso dwelleth in 
Love, dwelleth in God and God in him. It is not of 
Earth, but of Heaven. It is the great attribute which 
binds the Almighty to the heart of Man. The more we 
possess of this quality, the more we resemble God. The 
germ of it, which exists in our hearts, is the foundation 
for our growing likeness to the Creator, and when it is 
fully developed within us, we have become partakers of 
the Divine Nature. 

IV. Once more, man has the power of conceiving of a 
perfection higher than he has ever reached. Not only 
so. He can make this perfection a distinct object of 
pursuit. He has faculties which the present can never 
satisfy. After he has done his best, he feels how much 
better it might have been done. He can always form 
a conception of a higher model, than any which he can 
actually realize. And his nature impels him to follow 
this ideal standard — not to rest content in imperfection 
— to forget the things that are behind — and to press 
forward to higher attainments, to diviner excellence. 
The artist sees this vision of perfection in his mind, and 
attempts to embody it in the materials that are subject 
to his skill ; but the result is never equal to his con- 
ception, he still imagines more glorious forms of beauty, 
than any which he has produced, his soul communes 
with an ideal perfectness, that no human hand can ever 
call into being. The good man sees this vision of per- 
fection, when he compares himself with what he ought to 
be, with the unspotted virtue, which he can conceive, but 



40 THE DIVINE ELEMENTS OF HUMAN NATURE. 

which was never realized, except in him, 66 who pos- 
sessed the Spirit of the Father without measure. " And 
this power, belonging to the human soul, is another ele- 
ment, by which man may become partaker of the divine 
nature. It is the germ of resemblance to God. It is 
intended to lead us on from strength to strength, from 
glory to glory, in an ever-growing likeness to the Infi- 
nite Source of Beauty, and Goodness and Love. 

Consider then, my friends, these four principles of hu- 
man nature, the power of perceiving Truth — of recogni- 
sing moral distinctions — of exercising disinterested love 
— and of aspiring after illimitable perfection, and tell me, 
if we were not made to become partakers of the Divine 
Nature ? Does not the soul of Man bear the impress 
of God ? Are we not created to exhibit the Image of 
our Maker in its divine purity and splendor ? And if 
such be our destiny, how solemn is our responsibility ! — 



DISCOURSE IV. 



THE SAME SUBJECT CONTINUED. 



2 PETER I. 3, 4. 

"according as his divine power has given unto us all things that 
pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him 
that has called us unto glory and virtue, whereby are given un- 
to us exceeding great and precious promises, that by these ye might 
be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption 
that is in the world." 

In a former Discourse from these words, I spoke of 
the elementary principles in man, by the cultivation of 
which he may become a partaker of the Divine Nature ; 
namely, the faculty of perceiving truth, of recognising 
moral distinctions, of exercising disinterested love, and 
of aspiring after boundless perfection. These elements 
in the human constitution, you will observe, are merely 
the germs, which, under the influence of a higher cul- 
ture, produce their natural fruit in the character and life. 
Because man is gifted, at his creation, with these divine 
endowments, it does not follow that they can be deve- 
loped without appropriate cultivation, or that they will 
be actually displayed in the case of every individual. 
They need care, exercise, education, or they will remain 
unfruitful capacities. Because man has qualities, which 
enable him to become a partaker of the divine nature, 
it by no means follows, that he is really in possession of 
that nature ; but in order to this, he must enjoy influ- 
6 



42 



THE SAME SUBJECT CONTINUED. 



ences that are adapted to bring his own nature to the 
highest degree of perfection of which it is capable. 
Now the Apostle, in our text, declares that Christianity 
presents such influences. He regards it as the means 
appointed, in the Providence of God, for the perfection 
of the higher nature of man. The purpose of Chris- 
tianity, in his view, is to elevate the human soul to a 
resemblance to God, to make it a partaker of the divine 
nature. But this is accomplished, as we have seen, by 
calling forth the native powers of the soul itself, not by 
forcing upon it any constraint or violence from without. 
The growth of the soul may be compared to the growth 
of a plant. In both cases, no new properties are im- 
parted, by the operation of external causes, but only the 
inward tendencies are called into action and clothed 
with strength. The fragrance of the plant is elicited 
by the effect of the air, it opens its colors to the descend- 
ing light, and assumes a form of beauty and grace, 
according to the secret law of its organization, under the 
influence of surrounding circumstances. In like manner, 
the original properties of the soul are revealed, under 
the influence of external causes, and in the light and 
strength of the Divine Spirit, which streams forth from 
the Primal Fountain, on all created things, its divine 
elements are quickened into life and activity, and it be- 
comes a partaker of the divine nature. Now this influ- 
ence which the soul needs, to give it a divine life and 
strength, is imparted in a peculiar manner in the Gospel 
of Christ. Let it be brought under the power of Chris- 
tianity, all that it has of the Divine, the Godlike, will be 
called forth ; its original capacity for religion will be- 
come religion in reality, and it will exhibit a true resem- 
blance to God. 

I would then invite your attention in the further prose- 



THE SAME SUBJECT CONTINUED. 



43 



cution of this subject, to some illustrations of the Power 
of Christianity, in developing the Divine Elements of 
human nature. In what manner does the Gospel of 
Christ address the soul of man, so as to give life and 
strength to those faculties by which he is capable of 
bearing a resemblance to God ? 

I. I answer, in the first place, by the intimate con- 
nexion which it establishes between God and the human 
soul. The sincere and consistent believer in Christ is 
brought at once to a deep consciousness of the presence 
of God. He feels, in a manner which no words can 
express, that he lives and moves and has his being, in 
the Father of the universe. The more he becomes ac- 
quainted with the spirit of the Gospel, the more he 
sympathizes with the character of Christ, the more he 
understands the purport of his teachings ; the stronger 
and clearer is his sense of the near and intimate pres- 
' ence of God. No one ever felt this like Jesus Christ. 
His mind was so filled and penetrated with the con- 
sciousness of God within his soul, that he was said to 
dwell even in the bosom of God. His whole nature was 
so truly in harmony with the divine purposes, so com- 
pletely in accordance with the divine will, that he could 
say what no one else could say, without presumption, 
" that he and his Father were One." But in propor- 
tion as we ourselves become one with Christ, accord- 
ing to the promise which he gave to his disciples, we 
shall feel in a similar manner, the nearness of God's 
presence to our souls, and cherish a constant commu- 
nion with his Spirit. We shall feel our dependence on 
God. Every thing which we possess will be regarded 
as his gift. The powers of our physical and our spirit- 
ual nature, the laws by which they are regulated, the 
manner in which they operate, the effects which they 



44 



THE SAME SUBJECT CONTINUED. 



produce, the gifts of the external world, the blessings 
and bounties of the social state, the beauty and magni- 
ficence of the vast universe, will be to us so many ex- 
pressive emblems of the presence of God, the visible 
Shekinah, through which he manifests his Will, the mys- 
tic book, on whose pages we read, in characters of living 
light, the inscriptions of Infinite Power and Wisdom and 
Love. We shall feel our responsibility to God, in pro- 
portion as we yield our souls to the influence of Chris- 
tianity. Like our Saviour, we shall always endeavor to 
do those things which are pleasing in the sight of God. 
The desire of his favor will be so strong, as often to 
absorb all other motives, and always to control and 
regulate them. 

The Gospel, moreover, gives us the brightest mani- 
festation of God in the person of his Son. In him we 
behold the full splendor of the Father's glory, — the 
express Image of his Perfections. The Infinite Ma- 
jesty of God is softened and brought down to the per- 
ception of man, as it is exhibited in Him who possess- 
ed our nature and who knew our infirmities. We 
commune with God in Christ, in a more intimate rela- 
tion than when contemplating the works of creation 
or the events of Providence. Our hearts are more 
deeply touched, a warmer sympathy is excited, and we 
feel a more assured faith, that God who so loved the 
world, as to give his Son to die for it, will withhold no 
needful blessing from those who trust in Him. As we 
are thus brought into the presence of God, by the 
power of the Gospel, an influence is sent to our souls, 
which allies us more closely with Him. All that is 
Divine in our nature is quickened by our communion 
with the Supreme Divinity. Our holier faculties derive 
new life, and we begin to feel that we are, indeed, the 



THE SAME SUBJECT CONTINUED. 



45 



offspring of God, and destined to share more and more 
in the perfections of his own nature. 

II. Again, Christianity acts upon the divine ele- 
ments in human nature, by the supremacy which it 
accords to the power of Conscience. It recognises the 
fact, that we possess a light within us, the quenching 
of which leaves us in a darkness more deplorable than 
if the bodily eye were destroyed. This light our 
Saviour always endeavored to kindle into a brighter 
flame, to place it, in its divine majesty, within the soul, 
and to make it the Searcher and the Guide of human 
conduct. The tendency of all his instructions is to 
elevate the power of conscience over the earthly pas- 
sions and impulses of man, to bring every feeling and af- 
fection into subjection to its dictates, and thus to in- 
vest it with a sovereign authority over our whole souls. 
The heart of the consistent Christian always yields 
obedience to the voice of conscience. He follows this, 
rather than the suggestions of inclination, or the 
promptings of passion. The natural feelings of man 
are not, indeed, suppressed within him, he is alive to 
all the impressions and emotions which belong to our 
nature, under the circumstances in which it is placed, 
but all are subject to the control of that voice, which 
commands with the authority of God. In this way he 
acquires an increasing conformity to the divine will. He 
loses, more and more, his affinity with objects that are 
merely of an earthly character, and obtains a resem- 
blance to the God whom he adores. His nature as a 
man is refined, its base admixtures are purified, the 
spirit of God bears rule within him, and he becomes a 
partaker of the divine nature. 

III. Once more, Christianity quickens the divine 
elements in human nature, by the activity which it 



46 



THE SAME SUBJECT CONTINUED. 



gives to the power of Love. It reveals to the heart of 
man the love of God, and thus inspires it with a kin- 
dred sentiment. The Creator of the Universe is set 
forth in the Gospel as a Being of Infinite Power, united 
with boundless Love. Nothing is better adapted to fill 
our own hearts with disinterested love, than the 
thought, that it is exercised towards us by the Author 
of our Existence, and the Disposer of our Destiny. 
The Christian feels that God is Love. He remembers 
the unnumbered and unmerited blessings he has receiv- 
ed from his bounty. His heart is touched with a deep 
sense of the goodness of God, and expands in emotions 
of love towards his fellow-men. In the person of his 
Saviour, he beholds a signal and affecting example of 
the love of God, and his own love is enkindled by the 
contemplation. At the same time, the Christian re- 
gards his fellow-men in a light adapted to call forth his 
love. They are children of the same Infinite Father 
with himself. However degraded their condition, they 
are of one celestial origin. They are all formed in the 
Image of the Infinite and the Eternal. They are all in 
possession of those immortal natures, which emanated 
from the Original Fountain of Life, and which are as 
undying as their primal Source. With these views of 
God, and Christ, and of his fellow-men, which the 
Christian obtains from his religion, the fountains of love 
within his heart are unsealed. The power of selfish- 
ness is subdued. The principle of sacrifice is quicken- 
ed. He learns to live for others and is anxious to be- 
stow happiness rather than to receive it. He tastes the 
blessedness of generous affections, he lives in the exer- 
cise of love to man and love to God, and is thus made 
a partaker of the divine nature. 

IV. There is another point which I would notice, in 



THE SAME SUBJECT CONTINUED. 



47 



which Christianity acts upon the better nature of man, 
and that is the lofty Ideal of Perfection which it pre- 
sents. We have seen that one of the elements of our 
nature, which fits us for religion, is the power of con- 
ceiving a degree of excellence, which we have not 
reached. The Gospel of Christ addresses itself to this 
power, and presents before it a standard, to which it 
must aspire, and beyond which it cannot pass. It com- 
mands us to be perfect, even as our Father who is in 
Heaven is perfect, and to imitate Christ, who was the 
brightest type of the divine excellence, that ever ap- 
peared on earth. In this way it calls forth the princi- 
ple in human nature which aspires after perfection, to 
its most active exercise, and we are thus made to at- 
tain a nearer resemblance to God. 

From the views which have now been presented, we 
may learn, my brethren, the real nature and distinct pur- 
pose of Christianity. It has been sometimes said, I 
trust without much consideration, that Christianity 
is of no utility to man, and that we might as well be 
without it as with it. But the answer to this objection 
is contained in the views that have been already stated. 
Christianity is designed to cherish and call forth the di- 
vine elements in human nature, and thus to elevate it 
to a true fellowship with God. It is the instrument 
in the gradual education of the human race, for its high- 
est advancement in all that is pure and noble, just, 
righteous and godlike. All the advances that man has 
made, have been the effect either of Christianity, or of 
a spirit similar to that which it contains, and the more 
extensively its influence is diffused, the more completely 
does he attain that participation of the divine nature, 
to which he is destined. 



48 



THE SAME SUBJECT CONTINUED. 



We perceive, moreover, from this subject, the true 
manner in which the evidences of Christianity are to be 
understood. It is the correspondence between the di- 
vine spirit of Christianity, and the divine spirit in man, 
that gives it the power of commanding a just and ra- 
tional belief. If we are insensible to the divine spirit 
of Christianity — if its real character, as breathing the 
same spirit which we love and adore in God, has not 
been revealed to our minds, we can have no clear and 
distinct perception of its truth. On the other hand, 
if the divine spirit in our own hearts has been quench- 
ed — if the elements in our nature, which ally us to God, 
have never been called into life and action, we can have 
no hearty faith in Christianity. As face answereth to 
face in a mirror, so the Divine in the Gospel answers to 
the Divine in the heart of man. Let Christianity be 
clearly understood — let the heart of man be pure and 
alive — and they rush forward to meet each other, — 
each as bearing the Image of God, and emanating from 
his Holy Spirit. 

Finally, I remark, that the best understanding as 
well as the clearest evidence of Christianity is to be 
found in our own experience. We think much of the 
evidence of sight — and justly, but the evidence of con- 
sciousness is more. We think we fully understand a 
subject which we have examined with our eyes, but 
there are some subjects which we understand the best, 
from feeling them with our hearts. So with Christian- 
ity. If it has quickened all the purest and most gene- 
rous sentiments of our nature — if it has called forth all 
those qualities in our hearts, which bear the greatest 
resemblance to the divine character — if it has raised 
us to communion with the Infinite Spirit of the Uni- 



THE SAME SUBJECT CONTINUED. 



49 



verse, and made us partakers of his nature, we need 
not that any one should instruct us with regard to its 
claims, for we know and feel, and have the testimony 
in our own hearts, that it is indeed the wisdom of God, 
and the power of God unto salvation. 



7 



DISCOURSE V. 



THE COINCIDENCE OF CHRISTIANITY WITH THE HIGHER 
NATURE OF MAN. 



JOHN XVI. 30. 

" BY THIS WE BELIEVE THAT THOU CAMEST FORTH FR03I GOD." 

In Dr. Paley's celebrated statement of the argument 
for the existence of God, he adopts a mode of reasoning 
which may be applied with equal clearness and force, 
to the evidences of Christianity. Suppose, says he, that 
in crossing a heath, I pitched my foot against a stone, 
and were asked how it came there, I might answer, 
without exposing myself to the charge of absurdity, that 
it had been lying there for ever ; but if, on the other 
hand, I had found a watch, and the same question were 
asked, I should be obliged to answer that it was the 
work of an intelligent and skilful artificer. The argu- 
ment, you perceive, rests upon the fact, that correspond- 
ing products are to be referred to similar causes. The 
stone alluded to by Dr. Paley, possessed none of the 
properties, to which we are accustomed in works of 
art. There was no curious organization, no compli- 
cated machinery, no adaptation of means to ends, no fin- 
ished and delicate workmanship, and hence there was 
no reason for ascribing its production to the skill of an 
artisan. It bore no resemblance to the products of his 
ingenuity. It possessed nothing in common with them, 



THE COINCIDENCE OF CHRISTIANITY, ETC. 51 

which would authorize the supposition that it was the 
work of the same hand. The watch, on the contrary, 
exhibited all the qualities which we are used to observ- 
ing in the products of intelligence and skill. It was 
clearly made for some purpose, it bore the marks of ev- 
ident design, and all its curious arrangements plainly 
fitted it for the production of the intended effect. It 
accordingly resembled, in its essential properties, those 
works which are admitted to be the fruits of ingenuity 
and art, and it would therefore be a fair procedure to 
refer the watch itself to a similar cause. No one, who 
has ever read Dr. Paley, can have failed to be struck 
with the simplicity and force of this argument, in its ap- 
plication to the great topics of Natural Theology, but 
I wish, at this time, to direct your attention particularly 
to the principle, which is at the bottom of it. The prin- 
ciple is, that when we admit a given product to be the 
work of a certain author, a second product similar to the 
first must be admitted to be the work of the same author. 
In the schools of art, for instance, the productions of Mi- 
chael Angelo are acknowledged to possess a distinctive 
character, which it would be difficult for a connoisseur 
to mistake. Now if a painting were to be discovered, 
among the remains of the old masters, bearing all the 
characteristics of his style, with such power and origi- 
nality as to preclude the idea of a modern imitation, it 
would be an irresistible conclusion to infer that he was 
the author. It would be impossible to suppose, that 
two different works, which bore the same impress of 
peculiar and inimitable genius, could have proceeded 
from dissimilar sources. 

Now I propose to apply this principle to the evidences 
of Christianity. If we can compare Christianity with 
some other product, which is admitted to be from God, 



52 THE COINCIDENCE OF CHRISTIANITY 



and find that it possesses the same characteristics, we 
shall have a strong proof, that Christianity itself is also 
from God. The principal difficulty in such a discussion 
is, to discover the term of comparison and to point out its 
coincidence with Christianity. If we had the work of an 
artist — to revert to my former illustration — it were easy 
to take that as the standard of comparison, which should 
be applied to other works under examination. But 
what, it may be asked, what work do we possess, ad- 
mitted to be from God, which is of such a nature that 
it can be used as a standard in judging of Christianity? 
Where shall we find the term of comparison, by proving 
Christianity equal to which, we shall prove Christianity 
to be from God? I answer, it is to be found in the 
higher nature of man. If we can lay our finger upon 
any thing, in this broad universe, and say that it is from 
God, it is his spirit within the human soul — the fruits 
of which are those elements in our constitution, by 
which, according to the Apostle's expression, man may 
become a partaker of the Divine Nature. If there is 
any created thing, which displays the seal of Divinity, 
and bears the impress upon its face that it comes from 
God, it is the higher nature of man — the faculties of 
Reason and Conscience, — the power of conceiving and 
aspiring after Divine Perfection. This truth has been 
recognised among all nations, and in every age. The 
universal testimony of human nature has borne witness 
that there is a spirit in man, and that the inspiration of 
the Almighty hath given him understanding. It is ex- 
pressed in different languages that the voice of con- 
science is the voice of God, and that all truth, clearly 
perceived by the reason of man, is from the Supreme 
and Eternal Source of truth. We are authorized, then, 
in assuming, that the higher nature of man is from God, 



WITH THE HIGHER NATURE OF MAN. 



53 



in the sense not merely that it is created by him, for in 
that sense the brute and the vegetable, the unfeeling 
marble and the lifeless clod are from him ; but that it 
possesses in some degree the qualities which we at- 
tribute to God, just as the stream partakes of the qual- 
ities of the fountain from which it flows. 

If then the dictates of Christianity and the dictates 
of our higher nature are identical, admitting that our 
higher nature is from God, we have a powerful argu- 
ment that Christianity is from God also. This argu- 
ment I shall endeavor to set forth and sustain in the 
present Discourse. 

My proposition is, that Christianity coincides in its 
dictates with the higher nature of man. 

My first point will be to show what I understand by 
Christianity, and then, to illustrate its coincidence with 
our higher nature. 

I. When it is said that Christianity coincides with 
the higher nature of man, it is of the utmost importance 
to the success of the argument that we obtain a correct 
and clear idea of what Christianity really is. This is 
by no means so easy as many suppose. Among the 
prevailing errors of the community, which together 
with much truth, we have inherited from former ages, 
few are more deeply rooted than those which concern 
the nature and character of Christianity. Were it al- 
ways viewed in its true light, as it existed in the mind 
of its Author, and was exhibited in his teachings and 
his life, I do not say that it would never have an ene- 
my, but I am certain, that to every man whose soul re- 
tained the image of God, it would appear as his bright- 
est and most glorious manifestation on earth. Christ- 
ianity has been grievously misrepresented and misunder- 
stood. The light shineth in darkness, and the darkness 
comprehendeth it not. 



54 



THE COINCIDENCE OF CHRISTIANITY 



1. By Christianity is not to be understood, the whole 
of the contents of the Bible. This is a very common 
idea, but it is very incorrect. When Christianity is spoken 
of, the attention is often directed to the entire mass of 
matter contained in the Bible, as if it were identical 
with Christianity itself. The effect of this is great 
confusion and embarrassment of thought. For want of 
a proper discrimination on this point, the whole subject 
becomes complicated, and often eludes every attempt 
to present it in a clear and intelligible light. 

We speak, for instance, of the reasonableness of Chris- 
tianity. But the mind of the hearer, instead of turning 
to the pure doctrine of Christ, is often directed to some 
fact or narrative in the history of the Old Testament 
which appears to him unreasonable, and because we are 
speaking of one thing, and he is thinking of another, 
the force of the argument is lost, and no conviction is 
produced. 

We speak of the beautiful and heavenly character of 
Christianity. But instead of the attention being led to 
the system of religion and morality which our Saviour 
taught, some transaction belonging to the childhood of 
civilization, but recorded in the Bible, is suggested to 
the mind, and secretly presented in opposition to the 
argument. 

We speak of the divine origin of Christianity. But 
the want of discrimination, to which I allude, leads 
men to exhibit passages of Scripture, which had refer- 
ence to the early fortunes of the Jewish people, and 
only a remote connexion with Christianity, and ask, if 
we can suppose that such passages, or such scenes as 
they describe, are to be attributed to a divine origin ? 

The error, in every case of this kind, arises from the 
primary mistake of confounding Christianity with the 



WITH THE HIGHER NATURE OF MAN. 55 

whole of the contents of the Bible. The truth on this 
subject is, that the Bible contains a complete record of 
Christianity, but it also contains much additional mat- 
ter. It is not entirely taken up with Christianity, nor 
with religion. It presents a history of the inspired 
men, to whom early revelations of God were made, but 
it is not, itself, the revelation, nor the immediate result 
of that revelation. It contains sufficient to satisfy us, 
that God has made a revelation of his will to his chil- 
dren — that holy men of old spake as they were moved 
by the Holy Ghost ; — and in many instances, it records 
the words which were thus spoken, but at the same 
time, it is not filled with them, but gives an account of 
many subjects of a different character. The Bible is 
not one book, but a collection of books, composed in 
various languages, at different times, by numerous au- 
thors, and hence there is no book in the world, the con- 
tents of which present a greater diversity of matter. It 
contains the primal traditions of the human race which 
were embodied by the great Lawgiver of the Jews, in 
the language of poetry and song, and transmitted to the 
most distant generations of the chosen people ; the 
history of a nation, whose character was peculiar and 
whose fortunes were wonderful, from whom succeeding 
ages have inherited some of their most valuable treas- 
ures of civilization, learning and religion ; the remains of 
philosophy and literature, to which the first efforts of 
the human mind gave birth, and which have served as 
the foundation *of a future and better progress ; — all 
these are contained in the Bible — all these are impor- 
tant, interesting, and of great price, but they are not 
Christianity, and they should no more be confounded 
with it, than the light, golden clouds which precede the 
rising of the sun, with the sun itself. 



56 



THE COINCIDENCE OF CHRISTIANITY 



2. By Christianity, I observe, again, we are not to un- 
derstand all the reasonings and illustrations which the 
sacred writers employ with regard to it. These are, 
indeed, intimately connected with Christianity, but they 
are not to be mistaken for the spirit and essence of 
Christianity itself. In reading the Scriptures, we should 
always distinguish between the great truths which the 
writers intend to convey, and the peculiar forms under 
which those truths are expressed. In judging of Chris- 
tianity, we should separate between the essential prin- 
ciples, which its original teachers set forth as the sub- 
stance of the gospel, and the collateral ideas and allu- 
sions by which these principles are enforced. The 
sacred writers, for the most part, received the message 
which they delivered from Christ himself. They heard 
the doctrines of truth and righteousness from his lips, 
and their minds were inspired with the spirit of God to 
understand them. The truth which they received in 
this manner was from heaven. But it was deposited 
in earthen vessels. It was committed to the keeping of 
men, who though illumined with a ray of light from 
above, yet saw through a glass darkly, who knew but in 
part and who prophesied in part. This truth was ex- 
pressed in human language, for the plain reason that it 
was addressed to human minds. It was illustrated by 
comparisons taken from objects which were then fami- 
liar, by allusions to opinions which were then prevalent, 
and by adaptations to habits of thought which formed a 
part of the national character of those to whom it was 
addressed. The logic, by which the arguments in its 
favor were carried on, bore the impress of those times. 
All that was external, the whole costume in which the 
divine truth was arrayed, partook of the peculiarities of 
the individuals to whom it was committed; but the 



WITH THE HIGHER NATURE OF MAN. 57 



truth itself— the pure spirit of Christianity was essen- 
tially separate and distinct. When we speak of Chris- 
tianity, then, let us be understood as speaking, not of 
all the reasonings and illustrations of the sacred writers 
in regard to it, but of the real doctrine of our Saviour 
himself. 

3. Neither, in the third place, are we to under- 
stand by Christianity, the theological systems contained 
in the creeds and confessions of faith, which have been 
adopted in most of the great churches of Christendom. 
These for the most part have been the result of dim 
conceptions of Christianity, and of imperfect views of 
truth in general. They have been produced not by 
an enlightened study of the Scriptures, in order to 
ascertain their exact meaning, but by the desire to 
bring the testimony of Scripture into accordance with 
some favorite system of speculation. Men wished to 
philosophize on the simple truths of Christianity, to 
explain what Christ left unexplained, to clothe the 
expressions of feeling and sentiment with the precision 
of logical ideas, to give to the language of emotion 
and poetry, the rigid forms of a scientific system, and 
in this manner, the confessions of faith have been 
framed, which with the intention of placing Christianity 
in a clearer light, have drawn around it a veil of dark- 
ness, that conceals its divine beauty from its friends, 
and makes it an object of bitter hostility to its foes. 
But think not, my brethren, that such documents are 
a correct expression of the divine spirit of our religion. 
Do not look into the copies of those worn and tattered 
parchments, for a living record of our faith. Go not to 
those symbols, whose words were imprinted on your 
memory, before your minds could comprehend their 
meaning, for your ideas of Christianity ; they do no 
8 



58 THE COINCIDENCE OF CHRISTIANITY 

justice to the heavenly truth proclaimed by Jesus 
Christ ; they set up a cold monumental image in place 
of the breathing spirit of our Saviour, so that when you 
look to them for bread, they give you only a stone. 

4. None of the points, to which I have now al- 
luded, is to be mistaken for Christianity. They must 
be separated from our conceptions of Christianity, if 
we would obtain a correct idea of its nature and char- 
acter. We must exercise our minds to make a just 
discrimination between what is essential and what is 
adventitious, what is the spirit and what is the letter, 
what belongs to Christianity itself, and what is only 
casually connected with it. We are to understand by 
Christianity, the doctrine which our Saviour taught. 
In him, it pleased the Father, that all fulness should 
dwell ; in his person, the fulness of the divine char- 
acter ; in his instructions, the fulness of divine truth. 
Whatever he taught in his precepts or in his life, in his 
briefest hints, or his copious expositions, we regard as 
the essence of Christianity. The views of religion, 
which he cherished himself, are the views of religion 
which every Christian should cherish ; the spirit which 
he breathed, should be breathed by his followers ; the 
faith which he taught himself, and about which there is 
no difficulty, should be the faith for which we contend 
as the substance of revelation, " the glorious Gospel of 
the Blessed God." 

It may be asked, how are we to ascertain the real 
doctrine of Christ, when such diversities of opinion pre- 
vail with regard to it ? I answer, by adopting those 
principles, which have received the general assent of 
believers in Christ. With regard to the essential points 
of Christianity, there has in fact been no dispute. Men 
have contended about words and expressions, but there 



WITH THE HIGHER NATURE OF MAN. 59 



has been a general agreement with respect to the fun- 
damental principles of Christianity. What our Saviour 
intended to be essential he made plain. He stated it 
so simply as to leave no room for dispute. Upon other 
points, which he left untouched, men have divided and 
engaged in controversy. Now if we pass by all these, 
and go to the instructions of our Lord himself, we shall 
find a great mass of truth, which all Christians agree 
in receiving, and it is this truth which corresponds to 
the higher nature of man, and forms the essence of 
Christianity. Ask any man who ever read the Gos- 
pels, what was the purport of our Saviour's teachings, 
and he will say, the spiritual worship of God, the cul- 
tivation of purity of heart, the exercise of universal love, 
and the hope of immortal life. The truths, contained in 
these principles, make out the substance of the Gospel, 
and it is for their divine origin that we contend, when 
we contend for the divine origin of Christianity. 

Once more, do you ask how are we to ascertain the 
real doctrine of Christ ? I answer, by the rational in- 
terpretation of the language of the sacred writers. Most 
of the differences of opinion which prevail, have arisen 
from an incorrect view of the meaning and application 
of the words of Scripture. Illustrations of a principle 
have been taken for statements of facts, the traditional 
opinions of the writers for the teaching of revelation, and 
the glowing figures of poetry for the accurate exposi- 
tions of science. Hence men have lost sight of the true 
doctrine of our Lord. Hence many theories of merely 
human speculation have been mistaken for the inspired 
revelations of Christianity. The only way in which we 
can avoid these difficulties, is to explain the language of 
the Bible on the same principles of good sense which we 
apply to the explanation of any other composition. We 



60 



THE COINCIDENCE OF CHRISTIANITY 



shall then go from the letter to the spirit. We shall 
comprehend the mind of Christ Jesus, and find that we 
arrive at the same conclusions which have already been 
mentioned — conclusions in which all Christians agree, 
about which there can be no dispute. 

II. In the further prosecution of my argument, I am 
to show, that Christianity, as thus understood, coincides 
with the higher nature of man, which is admitted to be 
from God, and that, consequently, Christianity itself is 
also from God. 

1. My first remark is, that Christianity corresponds 
to the higher nature of man in its revelations of God. 
Suppose that the religion of Jesus presented views of 
the Divine Being, which are repugnant to the. clearest 
ideas of justice and humanity, it would be impossible to 
receive them as coming from God. They would contra- 
dict the testimony of his Spirit within our nature. They 
would bear no resemblance to the divine qualities which 
connect man with God, and we should be compelled to 
reject them, as at war with his attributes. But this is 
not the case with regard to Christianity. Its revela- 
tions of God coincide with the dictates of the higher na- 
ture of man. The voice of Jesus, which speaks to us of 
our Father in heaven, is identical in its utterance with 
the voice of a cultivated reason and conscience. 

Christianity teaches, in the clearest manner, the ex- 
istence of an Infinite and Spiritual Being, who. is the 
Fountain of all life, the Author of all blessings, and the 
Disposer of all events. But this truth is asserted with 
equal clearness by man's higher nature. Wherever the 
noblest powers of man have been signally manifested, the 
purest homage has been paid to the great fact of a Su- 
preme, Spiritual Existence. The brightest lights that 
have ever appeared in the world, have bowed with the 



WITH THE HIGHER NATURE OF MAN. 61 

lowliest reverence before the Infinite Source of uncreat- 
ed light. The loftiest minds have ever been the most 
earnest to seek the Original Mind. They have been 
conscious of their divine nature. They have felt their 
need of divine illumination and aid. They have yearn- 
ed for near and intimate communion with the great 
Father-Spirit, from whom their own spirit was derived. 
The heart and the flesh, the most holy emotions and the 
most active powers of man's nature, in every age, have 
cried out for the living God ; the human soul, in its 
purest flights, has testified that God is our Father, that 
from him we came and to him must return. 

The higher nature of man has ever acknowledged the 
divine power, as the origin of every blessing. Hence 
the institution of sacrifices and other external forms of 
worship, in every nation. God was felt to be the giver 
of all good. The ripened harvest which waved in beau- 
ty before the reaper was from the Infinite Spirit. The 
clustering tendrils of the vine were nourished by his 
power. The delicious fruits of the earth were matured 
by the elements which he had made. The graceful an- 
imal was created by him. How appropriate, then, to 
set apart a portion of that, which was most prized by 
man, in honor of the Sovereign Giver. This was the 
dictate of the better nature of man, in an early stage of 
cultivation, and the same sentiment has been cherished, 
under every degree of progress ; the human soul has felt 
its connexion with God, and sought to express its emo- 
tions by the observance of external rites. The same 
spirit, which Christianity breathes, has existed in man ; 
the same revelations which that sets forth in a perfect 
light, had been presented in partial glimpses ; the same 
God, whom our Saviour proclaimed, had been found by 
the higher nature of man, so that all which is divine in 



62 THE COINCIDENCE OF CHRISTIANITY 



his soul responds to that which is divine in Christianity; 
it acknowledges it to be from a kindred source, and 
perceives in it the power and spirit of God, on which it 
depends itself. 

And as the revelation of God in the Gospel, is re- 
sponded to by the divine elements of human nature, so 
these have not been able to attain any knowledge of 
their Author, superior to that which Christianity pre- 
sents. The highest idea of God which it is possible to 
form, does not surpass that which was announced by 
Jesus Christ. The mind of man, with its divinest 
powers, can approach no nearer to the true conception 
of God, than it is brought by the Prophet of Nazareth. 
Through him we have the most intimate access to the 
Father. Whatsoever we ask in his name we shall 
receive. And if then the testimony of Christianity thus 
completely coincides with the testimony of our higher 
nature in relation to God, is it not just to conclude, 
that they are from the same source — that our Master 
was inspired with the same wisdom and power from 
above, which created the human soul ? 

2. Again, Christianity coincides with the higher na- 
ture of man, in ascribing supreme authority to the de- 
cisions of conscience. In this respect, they both utter 
the same language. They agree, in such entire and 
consenting harmony, that it would be impossible to sup- 
pose they had their origin in dissimilar sources. They 
are so identical in the demands which they make for 
the supremacy of conscience, that it would be no less 
unwise to ascribe them to different causes, than to re- 
fer the beams of light, which fall upon the earth, to dif- 
ferent suns. Our Saviour instructs us to follow the voice 
of conscience at all hazards — to do what we believe is 
right, at any sacrifice — to pluck out our eye, or to cut 



WITH THE HIGHER NATURE OF MAN. 



63 



off our hand, even to part with life itself, rather than 
sin against the law of duty, which is written upon our 
hearts. He allows no compromise between right and 
wrong. He tolerates no degradation of conscience to 
the power of impulse and passion. And this is precise- 
ly what is commanded by the higher nature of man. 
There is a voice within us, which we admit to be from 
God, that tells us to scorn the guilt of a wrong action. 
We can read the decree w T ritten upon our hearts, to do 
our duty and trust in God. This decree has been re- 
cognised by all noble and generous natures. They have 
felt its authority. They have yielded to it their obe- 
dience. How many have reverenced so far their high- 
er nature, that they would rather suffer, rather submit 
to torture, rather die, than sacrifice a principle or vio- 
late a duty ! How many have forsaken every worldly 
advantage in the cause of truth ! How many have gone 
forth cheerfully to the dungeon and the rack, the scaf- 
fold and the cross, rather than dishonor the voice of 
conscience and prove recreant to the law of God within 
their souls ! In such exhibitions of human nature w T e 
perceive a divine power. We admit that the light 
which guides them is light from Heaven. And can we 
see the perfect coincidence between the revelations of 
the Gospel and the voice of God in human nature, and 
not acknowledge them to be of a kindred origin ? Did 
not the same Being who wrote the law of duty on the 
heart of man, inspire his Son, who set it forth with such 
clearness and force? 

3. Still further, Christianity coincides w 7 ith the high- 
er nature of man, inasmuch as they both inculcate the 
exercise of universal love. Suppose that a religion were 
presented to us, which commanded us to hate each oth- 
er, and on every occasion to pursue our own interests 



64 THE COINCIDENCE OF CHRISTIANITY 



at the expense of our neighbor's happiness. Suppose 
that it permitted us to take every advantage of the 
weakness and ignorance of our fellow-men, to defraud 
them when we saw fit of their property, to injure them 
in their persons, to forsake them in their distress, and to 
cherish every evil passion and sentiment towards them, 
could any external evidence make you believe that such 
a religion was from God? Could you be convinced, 
even though one should rise from the dead in its attes- 
tation, that it was inspired by his divine spirit? Would 
you not rather, on the contrary, reject a religion of such 
a character, almost without examining its claims ? Would 
you not feel yourself justified in saying that it could not 
be from God, although the voice of an archangel should 
declare that it was? But why would you adopt this 
course? Because you could not do otherwise, in ac- 
cordance with your own nature. It would be doing 
violence to the better part of yourself to admit that such 
a system could be the revelation of God. And the rea- 
son clearly is, that it does not coincide with the divine 
elements of the soul, which every man regards as the 
standard of truth. Our higher nature tells us, to love 
and live in peace with all men. It strengthens the 
bands of love, which unite men together, as a company 
of brethren. It inculcates the duty of reverence towards 
our fellow-beings, as children of God. It tends to break 
down the barriers of birth and of fortune, of differences 
of opinion and varieties of condition, which divide the 
heart of man, and to combine the scattered members of 
our race, in the great brotherhood of humanity. This 
is a consummation for which the noblest minds have de- 
voutly longed in every age. The higher nature of man 
has inspired him with the godlike sentiments of charity 
and peace, of toleration and universal love. Christian- 



WITH THE HIGHER NATURE OF MAN. 65 

ity does but echo back this voice. It declares in re- 
sponsive tones to the cry of humanity, that we are all 
brethren upon the earth, and that our highest duty to 
God is to do good to one another. It sets forth the 
broadest principles of philanthropy. It inculcates the 
most liberal spirit of tolerance and kindness. It wars 
with every narrow prejudice. It plucks up the roots of 
hostility and ill-will from the heart of man. It breathes 
the most enlarged and generous sentiments, and would 
make them universal. In this respect, it corresponds 
to the most divine elements of human nature. If then, 
you would reject a religion of an opposite character as 
unworthy of God, have you not a decisive proof that 
this religion is from God? You compare it with the 
bright manifestation of God, which the sentiment of hu- 
man love affords, and perceiving their identity, is it not 
the fairest reasoning to conclude that they both have 
one Father — that they are equally from God? 

4. Again, Christianity coincides with our better na- 
ture, in its commands to aim at spiritual improvement. 
The purpose of human life has ever been an object of 
anxious inquiry with thoughtful men. The result of 
their meditations has been recorded in their works. 
The wisdom, which they accumulated from the experi- 
ence of many years and the exercise of profound reflec- 
tion, is treasured up in their writings, and has come 
down, embalmed in its own undying fragrance, to the 
present time. And what testimony does it give? What 
is the confession of those noble spirits who have pon- 
dered most deeply on the mysteries of life, and attained 
in their own characters the purity of heart which allied 
them most nearly with God? Consult the pages of wis- 
dom which have been transmitted to us, from the pro- 
phets of Judea and the sages of Greece, you will find 
9 



66 THE COINCIDENCE OF CHRISTIANITY 



they all agree in the declaration that virtue is the high- 
est good of man, — that resemblance to God is the no- 
blest aim of life. They counted it a base thing to be 
under the dominion of the meaner passions. They 
scorned the slavery of the senses, and fought for the free- 
dom of the soul. They regarded no evil so great as 
sin. They dreaded no bondage so much as the bon- 
dage of the evil appetites. They wished to elevate 
their nature above the level of the brute, and cultivate 
its godlike capacities. Improvement in all that is gen- 
erous and noble-minded, all that is just, pure and hon- 
orable, all that is benevolent toward man and devout 
toward God, was considered by them the only aim, 
worthy the highest efforts of a man. This is the tes- 
timony of the master-spirits of all ages, whose thoughts 
have outlived the ravages of time. The poet has given 
utterance to these truths in the sweet voice of song, the 
philosopher has clothed them in the venerable forms of 
reason, the moralist has lent to them the winning graces 
of persuasion, and the orator has enforced them with all 
the majesty of eloquence. It was here that the heart 
of man spoke out. Here his better nature has testified 
to itself and to all others, that it was not made for the 
degradation of vice, the foul dominion of base passions. 
Here has been uttered forth in strains that ring loud 
and clear upon the soul of ages, that there is a divin- 
ity in man, which must seek its kindred source, And 
how powerfully does Christianity respond to this voice 
of our higher nature ! It tells us, what we had been 
told before, but never with so much force, to scorn the 
empire of our baser appetites and place our affections on 
lofty things. It reveals to us the Infinite Source of 
Perfection, manifested in the person of our Lord, as 
the object, to which our souls should aspire, which 



WITH THE HIGHER NATURE OF MAN. 67 

we should ever try to imitate. The highest elevation 
of our spiritual nature, the victory over ourselves and 
over the world, a moral union with God, is the great 
purpose which it presents to our endeavors. How com- 
plete the coincidence with the divine elements in hu- 
man nature ! Is not the proof direct, that they both 
have one Father 1 Can I believe that God is the Cre- 
ator of my soul, the inspiring breath of my reason and 
my conscience, and not believe, at the same time, that 
the mind of Jesus drew inspiration from his spirit? 

5. I have time to mention but one other coincidence 
between Christianity and our higher nature. I refer to 
its indications of a future life. Whenever the higher 
powers of human nature have been quickened by culture, 
man has felt that this world was not his final home. 
The secret instincts of his heart have told him that he 
possessed something which death could not destroy. 
The hope of Immortality may not indeed have been 
fully developed, a cloud has rested upon the prospects 
of the future, and no messenger has appeared to an- 
nounce glad tidings of the spirit-land ; but yet in the 
noblest natures, with whose thoughts we are permitted to 
commune, at this distance of time, an instinctive yearn- 
ing has revealed to them the sublime hope of humanity, 
and led them to cling to the faith that they should not 
die entirely, as the dearest heritage of man. In such 
minds the voice of God in the endowments of our na- 
ture spoke though in whispers, and taught the same great 
truth, which our Saviour placed in the brightest light. 
This voice was heard in the soul of the Grecian martyr, 
who amid the gathering darkness of his narrow cell 
calmly discoursed on that land of light, which he hoped 
to enter after death ; it spoke comfort to those generous 
spirits, who in times of public woe held it sweet and 



68 



THE COINCIDENCE OF CHRISTIANITY 



noble to die for their country ; and it now addresses 
the pure in heart, who are not blessed with the Chris- 
tian faith, assuring them that this is but the infancy of 
a life which is to be matured in other scenes. We 
here find the testimony of our higher nature. And to 
that testimony the Gospel of Christ responds. It tells 
us clearly what man had hoped and wished before. The 
divine message of the Gospel corresponds to the divine 
instincts of the soul. It explains and strengthens them. 
It confirms this vast hope which the human understand- 
ing would never have conceived, but which the Divine 
Spirit in the Reason of man has anticipated, that we shall 
live for ever ; that death is but one event in the myste- 
rious cycle of our conscious existence, a link in the great 
chain of circumstances which connect us with the uni- 
verse and with God. On this point, the most interest- 
ing which frail man can contemplate, the Divine in our 
nature and the Divine in the gospel completely harmo- 
nize. The seal which God has impressed upon the 
human soul, agrees with that which is borne on the face 
of Christianity. Were they not both enstamped there 
by the same hand ? 

It is thus, my hearers, as the image of God is dis- 
played in the divine elements of our nature — that a 
similar image is presented in the revelations of the 
Gospel. Shall we not recognise the likeness ? Are 
not the spirit which breathes in the human soul and the 
spirit which breathes in the religion of Christ, brother- 
spirits, that have come down from their native heaven 
to conduct the creatures of earth to their home with 
God ? Yes, they are of a kindred origin, they know 
and love each other, and as soon as the spirit of man 
becomes conscious of its affinity with God, and beholds 
the same image in Jesus Christ, it utters what it cannot 



WITH THE HIGHER NATURE OF MAN. 69 



but feel, — By this we know that thou earnest forth from 
God. We are thus made free from the heavy burden of 
doubt, and enabled to embrace a faith, that will satisfy 
the soul — a faith, that is not merely a form of lifeless 
words, but the strong conviction of our hearts — a faith, 
that is so incorporated with the deepest elements of our 
nature, that no earthly power can destroy it — a faith, 
that will sustain us in the temptations of life, and reveal 
to us an unchanging home in the hour of death. 



DISCOURSE VI. 



THE REVELATION OF GOD TO THE PURE IN HEART. 



MATTHEW V. 8. 

" BLESSED ARE THE PURE IN HEART, FOR THEY SHALL SEE GOD." 

An interesting truth is expressed in this declaration 
of our Saviour, entirely in accordance with the train of 
thought which I have recently attempted to set forth, and' 
which may form an appropriate close to the discussion in 
which we have been engaged. I have endeavored to 
show, that there are elements in the constitution of man, 
by which he may become a partaker of the Divine Na- 
ture, that the design of Christianity is to call forth and 
quicken these elements in the human soul, and that the 
correspondence of Christianity with all that is divine in 
our nature, proves it to be of a kindred origin — proves 
it to be from God. I wish this morning to shew that 
the presence of God is perceived by these divine ele- 
ments of human nature, and with the discussion of this 
subject, I shall terminate the series of connected dis- 
courses to which I have invited your attention. 

' c Blessed are the Pure in Heart/' said our Saviour, 
"for they shall see God." It is evident from this ex- 
pression that it is to the heart, or inward nature of man, 
in a state of purity or freedom from subjection to the 
lower passions, that the presence of God is manifested. 



THE REVELATION OF GOD TO THE PURE IN HEART. 71 

When it is promised that we shall see God, we cannot 
suppose that the contemplation of the person or the form 
of the Infinite and Invisible is intended, in the same 
way in which the objects of sense are brought before the 
human eye, for we know that God is a Spirit, and that 
by a spiritual perception only can he be discerned. But 
as we have a more distinct impression of objects, which 
we see, it is natural to represent a clear perception of 
the presence of God, by an image taken from the faculty 
of sight. The meaning of our Saviour then is, that the 
presence of God is revealed most fully to the Pure in 
Heart. And this fact is in perfect harmony with a great 
law of our constitution, which presents one of the most 
interesting aspects of human nature. The law to which 
I allude is, that every perception of external objects 
takes place, according to a corresponding arrangement 
in our inward constitution. Thus the light falls upon 
the eye, and received by a most delicate and curious or- 
ganization, conveys the perception of color to our minds. 
The sun might exist as the fountain of light, as it now 
does, and pour forth its streams over the earth, but, were 
there no corresponding provision in the inward nature of 
man for the perception of the outward objects, the beau- 
ties of nature would be a lifeless blank, the variety of co- 
lors, of forms, of motions, in the universe, would be with- 
out significance, and the lavish bounty of Providence ap- 
parently bestowed in vain. The perception of light 
depends upon the purity of our vision. The beautiful 
objects which it creates are revealed to a corresponding 
power within. Let that power be weakened, darken- 
ed, or destroyed, the enjoyment of light is taken away — 
and when that power is annihilated, it is the same as if 
the sun w T ere blotted out of existence. You may apply 
this process of reasoning to all the faculties of man and 



72 THE REVELATION OF GOD TO THE PURE IN HEART. 

the objects with which they are conversant. The laws 
of sound are in accordance with the construction of the 
human ear. The most thrilling music is without effect, 
when the inward faculty to which it is addressed is de- 
ficient. Let the ear of man be sealed, the melody of 
nature would in fact be silenced. These considerations 
apply directly to the subject of our present discussion. 
As the light of the sun is revealed only to purity of vis- 
ion, so is the presence of God to purity of heart. As 
we are provided with a mental organization to perceive 
the harmony of sounds and the beauty of colors, we are 
also provided with faculties to perceive the presence of 
God, the operations of his Divinity. As light and sound 
are addressed to portions of our nature, expressly 
adapted to their recognition, so the Divine Presence in 
the Universe, is addressed to the divine elements in our 
nature. If they are preserved in purity, God is recog- 
nised by the Soul. If they are weakened by passion, 
darkened by sin, or sunk into degradation amid the temp- 
tations of life, the light of God's face is hidden, his Pres- 
ence is apparently withdrawn, he goeth before us but 
we see him not, he is on our right hand but we do not 
perceive him. It is to the Divine in human nature, 
that the presence of God is revealed, and of course, if 
that is quenched, we have no powers by which to as- 
cend to our Maker. We may possess other faculties 
in great perfection — our understanding may be clear, our 
discernment acute, our faculty of calculation almost in- 
fallible ; but if the divine elements in our nature— if 
Reason and Conscience, the sentiment of Love and the 
thirst after Perfection, are debased, we have no more 
power of perceiving God than the blind man has of per- 
ceiving the colors of the most brilliant painting. He 
may hear it described if he has good ears, and thus form 



THE REVELATION OF GOD TO THE PURE IN HEART. 73 

some imagination with regard to it, but he does not see 
it, has no perception of its qualities, no admiration of its 
beauty. If, then, we would perceive the presence of 
God, so that he may be as distinct a reality to our souls, 
as if he were an object of sense, we must cherish those 
elements of our nature which ally us directly with him. 
We must preserve, in their original purity and power, 
all those qualities which resemble the attributes which 
we adore in God, and w T hich present the intrinsic char- 
acteristics of Divinity. These alone can exercise the 
consciousness of their celestial origin. They are streams 
which partake of the properties of the fountain that they 
flow from, with the power of tracing themselves back to 
their primal source. The Pure in Heart are those in whom 
these pure elements are alive. They have not yielded to 
the base dominion of worldly passion. They have not 
quenched the divine spark within their souls by indul- 
gence in sin. They live in the habitual exercise of 
Love, of Reverence for the behests of Conscience, of 
obedience to the law of Duty, of aspirations alter bound- 
less Perfection and a near communion with the Divine 
Mind. They cultivate and give strength to all those 
qualities, which bear the stamp of coming from God, 
and the claim of sovereign authority. Perfect, indeed, 
they are not, they feel that they have not yet attained, 
they are conscious of great deficiency, for the light of 
Heaven is ever attended with the shadows of earth, but 
yet their affections are placed on divine things ; they 
live in constant communion with the Invisible, they have 
not effaced the Image of God from their inward nature, 
and possessing this Purity of Heart, they behold the 
Father, they see God. 

I. The Pure in Heart see God within their own souls. 
I mean by this, that the consciousness of their own na- 
10 



74 THE REVELATION OF GOD TO THE PURE IN HEART. 

ture reveals to them the presence of the Eternal. The 
human soul is the great argument for the Being and 
perfections of God, and if we are insensible to this, we 
can have a living faith in no other. The qualities, of 
which we may become conscious in our own nature, 
lead us directly and irresistibly to the idea of a God, 
from whom they proceed. As soon as we become ac- 
quainted with our own souls, we perceive that they are 
dependent, limited, finite, but at the same time endowed 
with powers, that command with absolute authority, 
with capacities for boundless improvement, and aspira- 
tions after an approach towards Infinite Perfection. 
Whence has the soul these faculties ? Who stamped 
upon it these ideas, or made it susceptible of receiving 
them ? Surely not itself. Its endowments are not the 
result of its own will. They were not acquired in con- 
sequence of any exertion of its own. It found itself in 
possession of them, when it first awoke to a full con- 
sciousness of its own nature, and felt itself impelled by 
a resistless force, to manifest and exercise them. They 
can be traced to no other source than to the Eternal 
Fountain of Truth and Good. But these endowments 
of our nature cannot be perceived, when they are 
sullied and debased by the indulgence of earthly pas- 
sions and the foul corruption of selfishness and sin. 
They exist, but the signs of their existence are buried 
up, they present no manifestations which the conscious- 
ness can appreciate, and as God is not. seen in them, 
he is not seen with a clear eye and a strong faith in any 
region of the Universe. This is the cause of our de- 
fective trust in God and our mournful insensibility to his 
presence. We look for the indications of his Being, at 
too great a distance from ourselves, instead of finding 
within our own hearts, such marks of his presence as 



THE REVELATION OF GOD TO THE PURE IN HEART. 75 

would make him a felt and living reality. Until we have 
become alive to the elements of Divinity in human na- 
ture, which compel us to perceive the existence of an 
Infinite and Eternal Divinity, we can have no deep and 
intimate communion with God, no sense of his presence 
so distinct and vivid, as to be like seeing him face to 
face. But this sense is given to us, my hearers, in pro- 
portion to our Purity of Heart. Just as far as we pre- 
serve the Image of God with which we were created, in 
its unsullied brightness, we shall be conscious of its pos- 
session, and as we behold this Image within our souls, 
we shall see God, who is its Original. We shall be 
filled with a deep reverence in contemplating the mys- 
teries of our own nature. The operations of our minds 
in the pursuit of Truth, the sympathies of our hearts in 
the exercise of affection, the holy yearnings of our 
nature at the Idea of the Infinite and the Perfect, the 
majestic authority of Reason, the solemn voice of con- 
science, the sublime hopes that thrill through our 
bosoms when our friends pass away on the bed of 
death, the visions of Immortality that hover round our 
spirit when we reflect that unto all men it is appointed 
once to die, — these, and similar scenes, which are pre- 
sented on the inward theatre of our consciousness, will 
all be to us divine revelations of God. We shall see 
in them the presence of our Father. He will pass before 
the eye of our thought, and we shall no longer say, 
shew us the Father and it sufficeth us, since we have 
known and seen him, within our souls. 

II. The Pure in Heart, again, behold God in the 
various events of life. If they have been led to a living 
faith in his Being, by a consciousness of his presence 
within their souls, they will see him in every circum- 
stance of their existence. Their whole experience, 



16 THE REVELATION OF GOD TO THE PURE IN HEART. 

filled with the recollections of his goodness and the 
symbols of his wisdom, will reveal to them the Provi- 
dence of their Father. Life will not appear to them 
without purpose and without profit ; but they will 
regard it as a portion of their being, which the love of 
God has appointed, and for which they are responsible. 
They accept it with all its conditions, and endeavor to 
spend it as under the eye of Him from whom it 
was received and to whom it must be resigned. All 
its changes, they feel, are the result of causes which he 
holds in operation ; all its blessings, the fruits of that 
exhaustless goodness which he always exercises ; all 
its trials, the appointment of his wisdom which sees 
every thing, which is never darkened and which never 
errs. Are they permitted the enjoyment of prosperity ? 
They feel that it is from God. The smiles of his love 
are seen around their prospects, giving a new and 
brighter joy to their blessings. Are they surrounded 
with friends, whose intercourse delights their hearts, 
and in whose sympathy they find the highest solace 
and support, — they remember that it is God, who has 
given them their intellect and their affections ; and in 
these endowments of their nature made the richest 
provision for their happiness. The ties which bind man 
to his brother-man; the necessities of life which unite 
heart with heart and soul with soul ; the social rela- 
tions, with the deep and still fountains of joy, which 
they open to the pilgrims of earth and all the blessings 
which flow from seeing in the face of a man the heart 
of a brother, are referred to God as their primal cause, 
while they brightly reveal his presence and his love. 
Has adversity, on the other hand, marred the happiness 
that had been vouchsafed, — have the lent gifts of Divine 
Providence been recalled, — here, too, the Pure in Heart 



THE REVELATION OF GOD TO THE PURE IN HEART. 77 

behold the hand of their Father, and bow before the 
Sovereign Will which controls the universe. Blessed 
are the Pure in Heart — blessed indeed — for in the 
darkest events of life, they see the light of heaven, — in 
the most painful allotments which they suffer, the Infi- 
nite Wisdom of God, — in the heaviest shocks of affliction, 
the arm of a Parent outstretched to bear them to his pres- 
ence on high. Blessed are the Pure in Heart, for they 
shall see God. Blessed indeed is that pure-hearted 
Christian, whose fellowship is with the Father of the 
universe, for in the most fearful trial that disappoints his 
hopes, he sees the benign appointment of God, and re- 
ceives it as his most holy will. Blessed is that pure- 
hearted parent, who has put his trust in Him who is the 
God of all the families of the earth ; for when the lovely 
objects of hope and promise that gladden his happy fire- 
side, are smitten by the cold hand of disease, and he 
watches over the breathing life of his earthly idol as it 
grows fainter and fainter, until the last pang has been 
borne and the last sigh been heaved, he then feels that 
God has not left him alone, he sees even in the dark 
messenger of the grave, the spirit-hand that bare an 
immortal to the skies — he hears with the last low moans 
of pain and death, the spirit-voice from eternity, saying, 
earth to earth and dust to dust ; but, thou undying child 
of God, thou image of the Eternal ! come thou hither, to 
Heaven, which is thy native place — to God, who is 
thy home ! 

III. The Pure in Heart, once more, see God in the 
works of creation. To their eye, the vast universe is filled 
with symbols and proofs of the divine presence. They 
walk thoughtfully through the mysterious paths of cre- 
ation ; every step they take furnishes him with new 
objects of reverence and love, every discovery of 



78 THE REVELATION OF GOD TO THE PURE IN HEART. 

science reveals to them new evidences of the wisdom and 
power of God. A religious physician once told me, 
that he could never look upon the lifeless remains of a 
fellow-being, inured as he had been to the spectacle, 
without the feeling of deep and solemn awe. The 
earthly tenement of the immortal spirit, so fearful and 
marvellous in its construction, bore the marks of a di- 
vine hand, and brought him into the immediate presence 
of God. This was the natural result of such a mani- 
festation of heavenly wisdom on a pure heart. The 
same effect is produced by all the works of God on 
those who have preserved the Divine Image within their 
soul. Nature to them is no longer silent but vocal 
with the praises of her Maker. Her solemn hymn, as- 
cending from every spot on this broad earth and re- 
sponding to the melody of the skies, is heard by them 
as they commune with their own hearts and are at 
peace. They see the glory of God inscribed on the 
face of every created thing. The ancient mountains, — 
those old fastnesses of strength, — become to them the 
Horebs and Sinais which God has girt with power and 
from which he speaks to his people. All the trees of 
the wood are like the cedars of Lebanon which reared 
their lofty branches in honor of God. The humblest 
flower that spreads its modest colors to the sun is like 
the Rose of Sharon which reminded the pious Hebrew 
of the goodness of his Maker. To them the whole 
earth is filled with the glory of God and his praise is 
re-echoed from the sounding sea. The freshness of 
morning and the stillness of night, the piercing blasts 
of winter and the fervid sun of summer, the genial 
promise of the spring and the glorious fulfilment of the 
autumn, the most distant star that shines and the frail- 
est insect that lives, — all are revelations of that Spirit- 



THE REVELATION OF GOD TO THE PURE IN HEART. 79 

ual Presence which surrounds the world, both when we 
sleep and when we wake ; they are the inspired Proph- 
ets of God's will, the holy oracles of his wisdom, the 
speaking interpreters of his goodness and power. 
While these revelations pass unheeded before the heart 
that is lost to itself and wedded to sin, they are receiv- 
ed by the Pure in Heart as angels from the Divine Pres- 
ence, they acknowledge them as the expressive symbols 
of his love, for they see God in all and all in God. 

IV. Finally, I would remark, that the Pure in Heart 
behold the presence of God in the revelations of the 
Gospel. They see the glory of the Father in the Per- 
son of his Son. There are some minds, who think it 
unwise to direct the attention to the manifestations of 
God in Nature, lest it should weaken our interest in his 
manifestation in Christianity. But it appears to me, 
that the more clearly we see God as he is revealed in 
our own souls and in external Nature, the more clearly 
shall we see him in Christianity. I cannot conceive of 
any opposition between the God of the Universe and the 
God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Nature and 
Truth are from the same Being, the God of Nature and 
the God of Truth are one. And the same Purity of 
Heart w r hich perceives God in the world within and the 
world without, will perceive him also in the Gospel of 
his Son. For it finds there the same Truth which it 
had recognised before, — nay, the full-orbed Sun of 
Truth, of which it had caught before only faint and 
feeble glimpses. Christianity corresponds to all that is 
divine in our own nature and in the external Universe, 
and if our eyes have been unsealed to behold the glory 
of God in the one, we cannot be blind to his presence 
in the other. The man of a pure heart and clear insight 
will see that the Gospel of Christ contains the same 



80 THE REVELATION OF GOD TO THE PURE IN HEART. 

elements of Divinity, which he worships under every form 
in which it is manifested, he will see that in its whole 
spirit and essence, it is holy, heavenly, Godlike ; and 
with a faith, as firm as that which he reposes in his own 
being, he will believe in Jesus Christ, for he sees the 
presence of God in the revelation of his Son. 

My hearers, I have imperfectly set forth the truths, 
to which I have asked your attention, but let me entreat 
you to make them the subjects of your own deep and 
thoughtful reflection. One hour devoted to meditation 
on the sublime and mysterious significance of these 
simple words " Our Father in Heaven," may give you 
more light, than many hours applied to the instructions 
of the pulpit. Would you know God, first know your- 
selves. Keep your souls pure as the temples of divine 
love. Cultivate the spirit of constant prayer. Walk 
humbly with God in every duty and in every trial. Let 
your affections be placed on things above. Exercise 
the spirit of Heaven while you are still strangers and 
pilgrims on earth. Acquire a true Purity of Heart and 
you shall see God. 



THE END. 



DISCOURSES 



ON THE 



PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION. 



ADDRESSED 



TO DOUBTERS WHO WISH TO BELIEVE. 



BY GEORGE RIPLEY. 



" A true philosophy in the learned class is essential to a true religious feeling in all classes." 

Coleridge. 



Boston: 

JAMES MUNROE AND 
1836. 



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